


Viridian King - Tampered Destiny

by LoveThyFrenemies



Series: Viridian King [1]
Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-08-26
Updated: 2019-03-14
Packaged: 2019-07-03 00:10:31
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 12
Words: 41,035
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15807363
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/LoveThyFrenemies/pseuds/LoveThyFrenemies
Summary: An intangible force intercepts Dumbledore's project and leaves Harry in Honshu Republic, a secret nation where Japanese sorcerers reside. A decade later, he reappears in Britain as Hasu Katakura to explore his newfound heritage and solve his identity crisis. How will he survive his year in Hogwarts when groups of conflicting interests - including Malfoys, Dumbledore and even his adoptive family - try to use him as a political pawn? Will he reclaim Potter name? Or will he stand out on his own? With his sassy tongue and crafty wits, Hasu sets out his path to achieve his own greatness.





	1. Prologue: Intervention

In a cold, dark void where the darkness stretched without any bounds, there was a small sphere that brightly shone in the bottomless void. It shrouded itself with golden and black mist like layers of northern light, and the light emanated throughout the limitless space as if it were the only hope in this empty world, like a dandelion among the wasteland whose majestic beauty was unparalleled by anything.

  
However, one could see myriads of little cracks both inside and the outside the sphere, silently threatening to shatter it that was precariously held by the mists. Its beautiful yet fragile existence seemed so easy to be destroyed with a light tap on the surface.

  
_Crack_.

  
Another tiny crack appeared on the sphere’s surface, and the sphere flickered like a light bulb for a split second, consumed by a pitch blackness. A second later, the sphere came bac to life again, but it was less luminous than before. A mist of energy sipped out of the crack and dissipated into the void.

Around the sphere, there were three figures who observed this dainty ball of energy. The first figure wore a pristine white robe with golden laces, and the second figure wore an onyx robe that were indiscernible from the very void that surrounded them.

  
“Have you made your decisions?” The third figure voice asked with a feminine voice. Her voice resonated in the void like a distant bell sound. She was wearing a loose garb that resembled a night sky sewn with little stars. Her hood obscured her facial features in a complete blackness.

  
Her arms cradled a baby who was softly whimpering. The baby had green eyes that were easily distinguishable even in the utter darkness, and his hair was so dark that it seemed to be a part of the void. His forehead sported a pale scar that resembled a lightening.

  
“We have,” the first figure solemnly answered with a soft, male voice, “we will do our utmost job to save this fragment from perishing.”

  
“No matter what the cost,” the second figure added with a steely male tone, “we don’t believe that the humans can no longer solve this calamity on their own. A drastic measure must be taken.”

  
“And to think that we must put the burdens on a single human that already carries the karma of his sinned heritage, how regretful,” the first male shook his head.

  
“He was fated to be sacrificed,” said the second male callously, “he should be honored that we are saving him from a decade of loveless misery. It is infinitely better than wasting his potential for another man’s shortsighted idealism, Hijashi.”

  
“Always pragmatic, Yuel.”

  
“And so tenderhearted, Hijashi,” Yuel quipped back. Hijashi, the man with the white hood, sighed.

  
“Enough with your silly bickering,” the woman chided. “You two have done well serving me. I trust that you will do the same.” She then kissed the baby on his scar, and he giggled happily.

“Farewell, little one,” she smiled wistfully and handed him to Hijashi. “I will leave this to you with my blessing.”

  
“We won’t disappoint you,” the men spoke reverently and deeply bowed.

  
The lady thinly smiled and disappeared into the darkness, and the baby whimpered again and stretched his arms to where she was standing moments ago. He stared into the void for a few seconds as if waiting for her to return, but when she didn’t, his little mouth trembled.

  
“I hate kids,” Yuel contemptuously glared at the baby who was about to burst into tears, “she didn’t say we have to rear him together, you know that, right?”  
“I would object if you personally wanted to raise him,” Hijashi carefully scratched inside the baby’s ear, trying to soothe him, “don’t worry, I will take him. My wife wouldn’t really like it, though, especially when we already have two kids to raise.”

  
“Then tell her to suck it up. She married you for her own benefits, so they ought to come with caveats.”

Yuel abruptly disappeared into a dark purple mist without even a farewell. Hijashi, who was accustomed to his friend’s abrasiveness, simply grinned, and wondered how he should explain this random baby to his wife. She might not hate the baby, but it would take time to adjust.

  
“Don’t worry, kiddo. I will always be on your side, no matter what.” Hijashi ruffled his hair. “I shall call you…lotus, yes. _Hasu_ will do.”

  
He shrouded himself and the baby with golden butterflies and departed the void, leaving the lone sphere alone.  
________________________________________  
_November 5th_

  
“Kingsley, any news?” An elderly witch with a grey hair bun asked desperately.

  
“No,” the dark-skinned wizard answered grimly, “neither the ministry search team nor the Order has found any trace of Harry Potter. We have covered half the British Kingdom already.”

  
The other members of Order of Phoenix groaned. Albus Dumbledore, the leader of the vigilante group, was stuck in a conglomerate of giant mess. After he found out that the Fidelius charm was compromised, he apparated to the ruins of Potter’s hidden residence. He realized it was too late when he saw two dead bodies lying on the floor. He then saw the scraps of a black cloak on the stairs that led to the nursery, and the realization hit him: Voldemort was gone. However, the luxury of victory was short-lived.

  
Where was Harry Potter?

  
Dumbledore’s mind went blank. How was he going to guide a savior of wizarding world if the boy disappeared? Who would defeat Voldemort once and for all? Was the boy kidnapped by unknown death eaters?

  
Did he lose the last chance to destroy the monster that he had been forewarned of and failed to prevent?

  
Dumbledore had little time to ponder on these questions as the next few days turned infinitely worse. Sirius Black was thrown into Azkaban after killing twelve muggles and Peter Pettigrew. Black was found to have revealed Potter’s hidden residence to Voldemort, something that Dumbledore would have been suspicious about if he hadn’t seen the insane laughter of Sirius. How the sane, cheerful man suddenly turned into a madman, he had no clue. All he retrieved from the Black’s incident was poor Peter Pettigrew’s finger, and he sent it to his mother.

  
Then, the torture of Alice and Frank Longbottom came.

  
It was one of few instances that made even Albus to gag. The Lestranges and Crouch Jr. cast prolonged Cruciatus curses on the couple, permanently driving them mad. They were now lying on the beds in St. Mungo with no hopes of recovery. The perpetrators were tried just yesterday and sentenced to lifetime imprisonment in Azkaban.  
“Are there any chances that he might have been taken to the muggle world?” Dumbledore asked tiredly.

  
“Minister Crouch actually dispatched another team of Aurors to find him in muggle areas just to make sure that we don’t miss him right in front of us. So far, they haven’t found any leads.” Shacklebolt replied and wiped sweat off his forehead.

  
“Oh, poor Lily and James!” Molly Weasley burst into tears. “What if Death Eaters came before us and took him?”

  
“Let’s hope that’s not the case, Molly.” Arthur Weasley bit his lips. “The Death Eaters in custody have no idea where their master has disappeared to, so I think we can exclude the possibility.”

  
“It could be worse.” Alastor Moody muttered.

  
“How?”

  
“There was some serious magical mishap in Harry’s room.” Alastor Moody muttered. “We found out that the spell that caused such mess was Avada Kedavra, and we have no idea how an unblockable dark spell went awry. There is a very rare chance...but the accident might have literally vaporized Voldemort and the poor boy.”

  
Molly Weasley’s sobbed loudly. Her husband and a few other members tried to console her, but their efforts did not help her regain composure at all. Shacklebolt frowned at his mentor who looked just as grief-stricken, but said nothing. The baby really might have been burnt into dust.

  
Albus slouched in his chair, mentally exhausted. He was certain that the boy of prophecy somehow rebound the death curse back to Voldemort, but he also knew that it wasn’t over. Voldemort must have created some fail-safes in case he was temporarily disposed of for any reasons. The monster was crafty beyond anyone but Dumbledore’s imagination.

  
“Now, Alastor...let’s not hope that the poor boy really did turn into dust.” Albus pushed his previous thought aside. “It would have damaged Lily and James as well. From what I have seen, the magical outburst was very extensive. It demolished half of the complex.”

  
“I don’t like to imagine it, either, Albus. I am just trying not to cling on to false hopes.” Alastor barked unapologetically. Albus admired Alastor’s outright personality, but it wasn’t the right time to express it now. Everyone in the room was too dreaded at such possibility to say anything. Molly was sniffing in Arthur’s arms throughout the uncomfortable silence.

  
“We will have to extend the searches outside Britain.” Minerva finally broke the silence.

  
“What?” Emmeline Vance repeated.

  
“You-Know-Who had supporters in foreign countries as well. How can we be sure if he didn’t bring his foreign allies? They might have stolen Harry and fled the country!”

  
“International apparition is recorded by the ward that run across the Great Britain,” said Shacklebolt. “But it is worth looking into. And if we find out that someone could apparate without alerting the ministry, that is a serious security breach.”

  
“Great idea, Kingsley.” Albus concurred. “We must do everything in our power to find the child. I will ask Crouch to contact other European ministers to lend their help.”  
“Is there any way to find out if the boy is at least alive?” Arthur asked.

  
“Unfortunately, no.” Albus sighed. “Gringotts can, but they have explicitly expressed their neutrality in this war. They are not going to let anyone to dig into private information.” He understood that the goblins had century-old grudges against the wizard kind, but it didn’t make the problem any less frustrating. In fact, Dumbledore requested to see Harry Potter’s vault information, but the head of Gringotts immediately refused and said they would not disclose any private information to unauthorized people in any situation.  
He had to admit that Harry Potter was out of his reach.

  
And without Harry Potter, Albus would have to pick a replacement savior that the magical Britain would need to defeat Voldemort once and for all in the future. The news of the attack on the Longbottom’s pained Dumbledore a great deal, but as morbid as it was, he knew that it made the matter a bit easier. He had to convince two less people let him have some control over the Longbottom child. The guilt creeped into Dumbledore’s conscience, but he easily suppressed it. He would have to make the Longbottom boy strong and brave for the Longbottom couple. Yes, he would make the couple and elder Longbottom proud of their son.

  
And hopefully, redeem himself of the fatal failure five decades ago.

  
“I think we should take a rest for now,” said Albus, popping in a lemon drop in his mouth. The order members nodded in agreements. They hadn’t had good sleep for last a few days. “But before that, I have to face those reporters. I will contact you later for details of the investigation.”

  
He left his office to make an announcement of the defeat of Voldemort and the mourning of Potter Family, and the rest left in the sad mood. 


	2. Reclaiming His Heritage

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Still looking for beta readers, thank you!

_July 10th, 1991_

 

“ _God, what an ugly bank_.”               

“Hasu, stop acting like a brat.”              

“Do you want me to say out loud that this bank is ugly in English?”                             

“We all think so, but don’t speak out every complaint in your head.”                 

                  The Gringott employees curiously stared at the unusual people in the lobby. They comprised a foreign couple, a pair of fraternal twins and the youngest boy. The parents quietly talked to each other while the older children kept chiding their little brother who looked very distraught to be here.   

           The father was slender and had light brown hair and blue eyes. He was dressed in a plain white shirts and pair of khaki jeans that gave a muggle-like impression on others. He had a calm, smiling face that accentuated his handsome features.

           The mother, on the other hand, sported a dark hair with brown eyes. She wore an exotic dress with long, narrow skirt and a bright plum ribbon around her. Her frontal bangs covered half of her left face, giving an intimidating aura. She was undoubtedly beautiful, but there was an oppressive air of arrogance around her that made her quite difficult to approach. 

Interestingly, while the elder son and daughter resembled their father and mother quite a lot, respectively, the youngest boy looked nothing like his family. The child was paler than his fair skinned family and had a pair of startling green eyes with a dim glow around the iris. His black hair was neatly tied with a white ribbon and fluidly hung behind his neck. He had a lightning scar on his forehead, but it was hardly visible behind his bangs. He wore a short-sleeved, foreign black shirt that were adorned with white coat ribbons on the chest and butterflies on the sleeves. His short black pants were slightly puffy and reached his knees. His knee socks were greyish black, and his waist was loosely tied with a belt made of jade and obsidian. He would have looked quite dashing for such a young age if it weren’t for the frowns that made him look like a grumpy, petulant child.

            Hasu looked around the bank - or a modified mine, as he preferred to think- and made an aggravated sigh, wondering if it was all just a waste of time. When his parents found a decade old, foreign wizard newspaper about a lost baby, he was quite curious- and even hopeful. His life in Japan as a member of _Katakura_ family, one of the honored Samurai clans, was prosperous and full of privileges that everyone envied. Hasu’s life was _almost_ perfect in his current state.

           _Almost_.

           Hasu pushed away unpleasant thoughts and tried to look at the brighter side. Even if it turned out that he wasn't a son of Potter family, he still was a member of Katakura family-regardless what others might say.  All those jealous fools could go drop dead while he relished in wealth and power, he thought. 

          And that power included his mother's political strings; she used her connection with the Chancellor of Japan to directly contact the British Minister so that the family could visit the Britain under the ruse of “a summer trip”  with an International Portkey.  However, as soon as the minister - who looked like a lump of badly made rice cake- left them. Mrs. Katakura went to an owl rental office in Diagon Alley and wrote to Gringotts that her adopted son might be the lost Potter heir. The Gringott head  immediately replied that they visit the branch as soon as possible.

           Hasu thought that it was strange to test his lineage in a _bank_ , but his mother told him to not bother to understand one of many British for the sake of his sanity. He  supposed it wasn’t so bad as it looked. The bank was entirely controlled by the Goblins, so they supposedly had no legal obligation to report anything to Ministry except for the crime investigations.

           The Gringott’s head office door opened, and the Head Goblin walked out to greet the family.  “I am Ragnuk the Third, the head of Gringotts. I apologize for the delay, but I had to attend another important meeting.” Ragnuk apologized, but Hasu noticed he didn’t sound sorry at all.

           “I am Hijashi Katakura, and this is my wife Motoe Katakura. Here are my children, Akira, Himawari and…Hasu.” Hijashi, not minding Ragnuk’s unapologetic gesture, briefly introduced his family and offered his hand to Ragnuk. Ragnuk curtly shook the wizard’s hands and let the family inside the office. Ragnuk offered them the seats and returned to his armchair behind his work desk. The quills on the desk were signing documents on its own, and the signed papers flew and left the office through the door’s slits.

           “Your wife wrote that your second son may be the long-lost son of James and Lily Potter.” Ragnuk said as he closed the door behind them. He turned to Hasu and scrutinized his appearance with his beady black eyes.

           “Correct,” said Motoe Katakura, “One of my acquaintance showed me an old _Daily Prophet_ edition about the baby named Harry Potter. Apparently, he is called  _Boy-Who-Sacrificed_. He mysteriously vanished at the same time the terrorist named Lord Voldemort disappeared. I think there is a great chance our son is Harry Potter.”

           “You wrote that you don’t want to publicize your son’s identity if he turned out to be Harry Potter. May I ask why?”  

           “To protect my son’s privacy, of course,” Motoe responded as if the manager had asked the world’s stupidest question, “nobody wants pesky, lowly reporters bothering them. I recall that your bank has no obligation to report this to any wizard authorities?”

          “Technically, we don’t,” Ragnuk interlocked his long fingers, “but many British pureblood families’ put various stipulations that are separate from the Ministry laws. For example, one family may require its heir to marry a spouse within three years after reaching an adulthood. Or, another family may require its heir to continue family traditions that many others don’t practice any more. I cannot disclose the conditions unless your son proves to be Harry Potter.”

           “Then, let’s get on with it. What is the process?”

           “We goblins have a very simple and effective method, a magic that not wizards haven’t been able to decipher,” the manager grinned. His sharp fangs glinted, “Mr. Katakura, please come here.”

Hasu approached to Ragnuk’s desk as the goblin summoned a plain-looking parchment and slid it to Hasu’s side. He looked at the both side of the paper and asked, “it’s just a paper.”

“This paper is going to determine your heritage by absorbing little bit of your magic. Put your palm on the paper and try to push your magic into it.”

Hasu did as Ragnuk told. When he put his palm on the paper, he could feel an odd sensation of energy flowing out his hand. The paper soon glowed in a dim green, and letters appeared.

_Harry James Potter_

_A.K.A. Katakura Hasu(_ 片倉 蓮 _)_

_Born from:_

_James Potter, Lily Potter nee Evans._

_Adopted by:_

_Katakura Motoe, Katakura Hijashi._

“Well,” Ranguk grinned widely. “It seems like the old Potter vault will be open once again. Congratulations."

"This is so much simpler that I thought," said Akira, amused. 

"What did you expect, some kind of magical Genie declaring him as some sort of king?" Himawari snorted. 

"Children," the mother sternly spoke. "Leave your brother alone. He must be quite overwhelmed now." 

"How do you feel, young man?” Ragnuk asked. 

Hasu didn’t say anything. Ragnuk sensed neither an excitement nor happiness from the boy’s contemplative face, and he found it quite odd. Many wizards would have wept in joy if they inherited one of the most well-regarded pureblood’s wealth, and that made the boy’s neutral reaction much more interesting to him.

“Well, I am glad that my parents weren’t criminals. I guess this solves my eleven years old question,” Hasu simply stared at the paper.

“You must have been very curious about your origin,” Ragnuk nodded in understanding.

“You can’t really help yourself when you look so different in your country,” Hasu shrugged. “Just look at me and my family. I am like an ugly duckling from a fairy tale.”

“That _ugly duckling_ is privileged to have an honorable last name in Japan,” said an elder daughter coldly.

“Did I say I wasn’t?” Hasu snorted.

“Show some respect to your elder sister.”

“Make me.”

“ _Stop it,_ ” the matriarch steely ordered in her native language. The siblings immediately stopped their verbal skirmishes, but they kept glaring at each other. The other boy merely sighed.

“The next step is to read the rules of Potter heirship,” Ragnuk ignored the bickering and proceeded to summon a lengthy parchment. It was long enough to roll off the desk and touch Hasu’s feet, “which I have right here.”

“I hope I don’t have to beat a dragon or something,” Hasu muttered.

“One,” Ragnuk started, “all Potter heirs should be males. Two, the heirs shall be able to use magic freely.”

“How obvious,” said Himawari. Akira nudged her with his elbow to keep her quiet.

“Three, all underage heirs shall receive an individual account. Once they reach an adulthood in Britain – which is seventeen- they shall have full control of trust funds. The guardians, defined as those who are not parents by blood - shall manage the fund without spending more than ten percent of current monetary asset.”  

“Fair,” Motoe nodded.

“Fourth, the heirs all must attend Hogwarts-“

“What?!” Hasu shouted.

Ragnuk ignored him and continued, “the heirs all must attend Hogwarts School of Wizardry and Witchcraft. If an underage heir does not finish his full seven years of study in Hogwarts, he shall lose his privilege of trust vault, and the vault shall be automatically donated to Department of Magical Law Enforcment of Great Britain. The exceptions are – Mr. Katakura, please wait. I know you are upset! The exceptions are allowed if the prospective heir has passed the Ordinary Wizard Level Examination with all Outstanding, _and_ achieve Outstanding in Defense Against the Dark Arts and Transfiguration in Nearly Exhausting Wizard Test.”

“So, he just needs to pass the tests, no big deal. My brother has always been a top student in our school,” said Akira brightly.

“Interesting way to ensure the heirship,” said Hijashi. Motoe looked stoic and signaled for Ragnuk to continue.

“Fifth, all Potter heirs must not be dark.”

“What does that even mean?” Motoe frowned as if Ragnuk had spoken a jibberish.

“It can mean a lot of things,” Ragnuk crossed his long fingers, _“dark_ can mean using spells that are designed for malicious purpose, using dark creatures, or practicing traditions that are now deemed dangerous in today’s standard. Potters have always been known to actively discourage any association with dark magic or dark creatures. They fought against evil witches and creatures throughout the history, and they have set the majority of what constitutes _dark_ long time ago. They put this vague clause so that their heirs cannot go around the rules and practice banned magic. _”_

“Your ancestors must have had hero complexes,” Himawari jeered.

“Shut up.”

“Lastly, Potter heirs shall protect halfbloods and muggleborns to practice Godric Gryffindor’s values.”

“Godric _who_?”

“He is one of the most revered wizards of all the time and a founder of Hogwarts,” Ragnuk patiently explained, “he wanted to accept anyone with magic regardless their blood status, which was very radical in his era. They don’t talk about how he unjustly took my ancestor’s sword, though.”

“Why did he take your sword?” Hasu asked.

“It’s a long story,” Ragnuk curtly answered and rolled the parchment, “something you wouldn’t understand without knowing histories between us goblins and wizards. Now, what would you like to do?”

“Is there any way to put amendments to these rules?”

“I am afraid not. Guardians are not allowed to even change a word in the heirship rules,” Ragnuk shook his head.

“Really, the only troublesome rule is number four. I am sure Hasu can study hard to take those exams!”

“OWL, maybe. But _NEWT_ is much harder than OWL because they are directly related to career after the Hogwarts.”

“You have to get a job right after you graduate?” Motoe raised her eyebrows.

“What else do you do?”

“In Japan, we have what we call post-secondary education after eleven years of mandatory education. You don’t have to go, but it’s required to learn skills for specialty occupations, which the mandatory school is not allowed to teach,” said Motoe.

“I am more concerned about number five,” Hijashi pondered, “the definition of _dark_ is quite ambiguous, and what’s considered immoral may not be so in other countries. It’s too hard to draw a line.”

“Well, all Potter heirs have inherited their legacies without failures,” Ragnuk shrugged, “what is your choice, young Mr. Katakura?”

Hasu deeply thought. The overflowing Potter wealth and properties were tempting, but his eyes were on Potter legacies. Living in Japan for eleven years without any traces to find his birth family, he had thought that he would never know who created him in this world, and that he would quarrel with those who never acknowledged his allegiance to Japan until he died. It was something that he had been doing since he started to walk; he was not afraid to confront people who disdained him for looking different and being a lucky, rootless orphan, and he pushed himself beyond the limit to satisfy the high expectations that Katakura family set on children. He accepted the fact he would clash with everyone all the time and had to prove himself much harder than others.

However, he now had another choice.

He could get to know his birth legacies and hopefully decide what position he had in this society. Curiosity that he had squashed long time ago sprung back to life and hopes filled him. It excited him to find out that he was not just a son of random chap, but a descendent of well-regarded wizard families that many looked up to. Taking up Potter name would sure elevate his status in society in no time.

That didn’t mean that he planned to throw away his Japanese background. He was proud to live in a society that was far more advanced and refined than most magical societies, and he was glad that he wasn’t sheltered in this…prehistoric Great Britain magical society. A couple minutes of stay in here proved that British wizards were so ignorant of what existed outside their islands, and it appalled him beyond his imagination. Honestly, he wasn’t sure if he would go back in time and save his birth parents to live with them.

 _But I guess I should thank the Potters for my inheritance_ , thought Hasu. 

“Tell me about this _Boy-Who-Sacrificed_ , Mr. Ragnuk. And about Potters. I would like to know more before I decide,” Hasu demanded.


	3. Brat-Who-Survived.

 

 

           “Foreign student!” Flitwick squealed excitedly. “Oh, this is such a wonderful occasion. I always like to meet foreign wizards and discuss different kinds of magic.”

           “He is just eleven years old,” said McGonagall, “but I look forward to meet him as well. None of us has ever met an Asian wizard before beside British Indians. Where is he from again, Albus?”

           “Japan, a very far away land,” said Dumbledore. He was holding a letter that flew this afternoon from a public owlery that people used when they didn’t have owls . It was written by a father who requested Dumbledore to accept his son who recently turned eleven and wanted to experience some foreign cultures. Dumbledore, being a wizard who valued accepting other culture, replied with an invitation in a heartbeat. He and McGonagall, Snape, and Flitwick who happened to hear about this on his way to his quarter, were now waiting for the family to come.

           “Only thing I know about Japan is that they fought against muggle Britain in the World War two,” said McGonagall. “My father was drafted when I was like, five? My mothergave him a charm that protected him from heavy injuries. He came back without a scratch.”

           “My father would violently rant how the yellow monkeys killed his father,” said Snape bitterly, “but wizards in Japan probably had nothing to do with it.”   

           “I am sorry to hear-“ Dumbledore offered his apology.

           “No need to, Headmaster,” Snape interrupted him. “I wasn’t close to him at all.”

           “Family is important, my boy,” Dumbledore chided. Snape rolled his eyes.

           When the wall clock hit the four, a loud _poof_ noise occurred in the Headmaster’s office. A house elf stood at where the noise came from and announced, “Headmaster, the family has arrived. Shall Mimsy let them in the office?”

           “Yes, Mimsy. Please.” 

            Mimsy deeply bowed and opened the office door, and disappeared. The four professors saw the foreign family enter with grace. McGonagall and Snape observed them with careful curiosity while Flitwick showed his undisguised intrigue. Dumbledore simply greeted them with a warm smile and twinkling blue eyes.

           However, when he saw Hasu, his eyes momentarily faltered.

           “Hello, Mr. Katakura. I am Albus Dumbledore, the headmaster of Hogwarts. I am extremely pleased to know that you are considering our school for your son to expand his horizon,” he greeted the family with a well-hidden surprise. His eyes subtly focused on a pale boy with a dark hair tied with a white ribbon and a pair of familiar green eyes. 

           “Great to meet you, Headmaster. I am Hijashi, and this is my wife, Motoe,” the father introduced his family as Motoe curtly nodded, “and these are my children: Akira, Himawari, and Hasu.”

           “Pleased to meet you,” the three children said and lightly bowed in unison. 

           “I assume he is the one you mentioned in the letter?” Flitwick squeaked while looking at Hasu, who then looked back at the short man with an interest.

           “Yes.  We already have a Hogwarts brochure from my son's school that explains the curricula. How do we process his admission here?” Hijashi nodded and asked.

           "Hogwarts doesn't have any entrance exam, so as long as you are a wizard child, you are welcome to attend here. All we need is the parent and the child's approval, and the rest will be handled by us," Dumbledore explained with a smile and swished his wand. "Here is the form you need to fill in."

           “Can he speak English?” Snape looked at Hasu with unbelieving eyes.

           “Yes, I can. Why would I come here if I couldn't speak English?” said Hasu, a little annoyed that people looked at him like an exotic pet. He took the form from Dumbledore, read the prints, and signed his name.  “Here it is, Professor."

"Excellent!" 

"Does Japan teach English in school?" Flitwick asked. 

"Yes, but my husband's a native speaker, so he taught them more than school did," said Mrs. Katakura. 

 "American, then?" The half-dwarf squeaked with curiosity.

 "You can say that," Hijashi smiled. "Will he have to take a placement test?” 

“Only if he wants to skip his first grade, but I don’t think an eleven-year-old will be able to catch up with older students,” said Snape still his eyes on Hasu.

“I think I can easily skip a couple years in some classes if I want to.”

“Oh?” McGonagall arched her eyebrows.

“I have been learning magic since I was seven. I don’t think any first year students here can beat me in both practice and theory. In fact, I am top number five in my school.”

“Why, aren’t you humble?” Snape sneered.

“If you don’t want to, there is no need for you to take a placement test,” Dumbledore quickly intervened and spoke kindly, “but I will need to see some proof of your skills.”

“We can send you his school transcript to you within next couple days,” said Mrs. Katakura.

“Great, great!” Dumbledore clapped. He then summoned a parchment with a title saying _school supplies_  and handed it to Hasu, “you will need all these items before the school starts, Mr. Katakura. They are all available in Diagon Alley. Do you have any question?”

“Can I customize my robes?” Hasu asked as he read the list.

“Customize? Why would you want to?” McGonagall frowned.

“They are ugly,” came a flat reply. The adults and the twins gawked at his boldness.

“I’m sorry?” McGonagall blankly asked.

“I said, they are ugly. I want to look good, so I would really love to not wear something that doesn’t sweep the ground. I saw some wizards on the way here, and they all look tacky.”

“Everyone must wear the same robes, Mr. Katakura. That’s a rule. I am sure that your school has strict dress codes,” Dumbledore was, too, bewildered by Hasu’s attitude.

“Well, at least ours are pretty.”

“Our school doesn’t cater to needs of every entitled – “

“Severus,” Dumbledore sternly stopped Snape. 

“And why should a student buy his own cauldron? And gloves? Does this school have funding issues? And books are separate, too?” Hasu ignored the angry potion master continued his rant.

“That’s enough, boy,” Mrs. Katakura steely ordered. Hasu rolled his eyes.

“Hogwarts is funded by the ministry’s generous donations, Mr. Katakura. It’s not possible to afford every single class materials,” McGonagall shook her head, “but our education is a top-notch in Europe and has produced many great wizards and witches in the history.”

The twins then whispered something among themselves in their language and snickered. Hasu laughed a little as well, but an angry glare from the matriarch instantly shut them down. “Pardon my children. How long will it take to register him as a student?”

“Once we approve his admission, Professor Dumbledore will do the rest with the ministry. All it requires is to put his name in the Hogwarts roster as a visiting student and make sure that he understands a couple very important laws here,” said McGonagall.   

“Such as?”

“That you cannot use magic outside the school or Hogsmeade until you turn seventeen, and that you cannot use magic in front of muggles.”

“I understand the second part, but the first part is plain stupid,” Hasu argued ignoring his mother’s warning glances, “how are you supposed to practice magic during the summer, then? Or protect yourself?”

“It’s to ensure that Statue of Secrecy is not broken, Mr. Katakura.”

“Why would any Seculars find out magic when you live in wizard villages?”

“Secular?” Flitwick blinked.

“It’s what we call non-wizards,” said Hasu. “Anyway, if you live with wizards and live in a wizard city, then there shouldn’t be any Seculars around to expose you.”

“There are muggleborns who live with other muggles, Mr. Katakura,” McGonagall sighed, “and although I agree with your logic, that’s something we professors can’t change. It’s regulated by the ministry’s Department of Magical Law Enforcement, and they prioritize our safeties above all.”    

“I am starting to have a second thought about this whole thing,” Hasu grumbled.

“Then maybe you should not come here and stop complaining everything about this school,” Snape snapped at him.

“I might do so if you wash your hair. That is, if you can afford some shampoo,” Hasu smirked with overflowing disrespect.

“ _Why you brat-“_

_"Hasu!"_

“Severus,” Dumbledore calmly, but coldly called Snape’s name, “do try to contain your old resentment, or I will put you under a disciplinary action. It’s unbecoming to lash out at a child.”

“…”

Everyone stared at the embarrassed man. Snape’s face was red with shame, and he unwillingly said, “I apologize for my action.”

Hasu looked away and snorted. It was quite obvious that the man made a complete fool out of himself in front of the family. The twins and the mother looked at him as if he had just urinated in the office, and the father had a look of amused disdain. 

“Uhm…,” McGonagall broke the nasty silence, “will you still consider attending this school?”

“I think I changed my-”

“Wait.”

Akira grabbed Hasu’s shoulder and quickly whispered something in his ear. Hasu’s eyes widened, and a smile appeared. “Actually, I would like to ask this one question.”

“Of course, my boy!” Dumbledore smiled.

“How will the professors find out who used what magic in the school? Are there any wards that record them?”

“My, no way!” Flitwick shook his head. “A ward is a web of intricate spells to protect this school from being discovered by muggles. It would be nigh impossible to record any individual spells, much less who cast them. That’s what the wands are for! A quick _Priori Incatatem_ will show what magic the wand holder used. Why do you ask?”

“My brother is concerned about his safety.”

“Safety?” McGonagall scowled.

“My brother is, uhm, _very_ distinct from his peers in many ways,” Akira put his hands on his brother’s shoulders, “you see, he is adopted. There were kids who bullied him just because he was different. The only reason they were caught was that the ward that surrounds our school could record who cast which magic. They still tried to go around the detections and hurt him instead of stopping.”

“My, how deplorable!” Flitwick gasped.

“You should also say how I beat up every one of them,” Hasu proudly grinned.

“Yes, you did, and mom and dad had to apologize to their parents,” said Himawari rolling her eyes. Hijashi merely chuckled.    

“Amazing that your school can detect individual spell cast,” Flitwick's eyes shined with academic inquisitiveness, “I am sorry that you went through such things, Mr. Katakura. While our school can’t track down individual spell casts, we prohibit magic usage in the hallways to prevent students from injuring each other.”

“And the portraits on the hallways can see everything you do. We don’t allow bullies to have free reigns,” McGonagall added. Snape muttered something under his breath, but she ignored him.

“We are relieved to hear that,” Hijashi smiled with a satisfaction and looked at his wristwatch. “Do you still need some time to think, son?”

The boy tilted his head sideways and thought. It didn’t take him long to say, “sure, I will come to Hogwarts.”

“Great,” Mrs. Katakura smiled. “Tomorrow, we will talk to our principal to fill in a study abroad form. He should recognize Hogwarts.”

“Excellent!” Dumbledore happily clapped and smiled. “Welcome to Hogwarts, Mr. Katakura. Are you excited to spend a year in Britain?”

“Oh, I am,” Hasu grinned. “I really am.”

“Good to hear, my boy!” The old wizard nodded approvingly, “do you have more questions?”

“I don't think we do. Everything was quite straightforward,” said Mrs. Katakura. She turned to her husband and spoke, “will you take him to Diagon Alley today for his school supplies? I have some important meetings with the parliament.”

“No problem! A father-son bonding time then?” Hijashi ruffled Hasu’s hair. Hasu scowled but didn’t stop him from messing his hair. “Thank you for your time, esteemed professors. What else should we do?”

“Nothing! I will contact Fudge when the school starts so that he can prepare an international portkey. I assume that’s how you came here?”

“Our chancellor contacted your ministry for a portkey, so yes,” Mrs. Katakura nodded, “well, enjoy the rest of the day, professors.”

“Bye!” Flitwick squeaked cheerfully.

“Safe trip,” McGonagall and Dumbledore spoke in unison. Snape didn’t say anything but kept staring at Hasu with contempt, who stared back with equal disdain. The family then left the office.

“Am I mistaken that he looks a lot like Lily?” McGonagall asked Dumbledore as soon as the door closed.

“You are not,” Dumbledore’s smile disappeared, and a thoughtful frown took in the place, “and he is same age as Harry would have been.”

“And just as entitled, disrespectful and cocky as his father,” Snape resentfully grumbled.

“My Merlin, Severus, will you please try to move on and act like an adult?” Flitwick glared at the potion master and shook his head in exasperation. “You three think that he is Harry Potter just because he resembles his parents? Do you realize how absurd that sounds?”

“Filius, you of all people should have recognized her eyes. His brother just told us that he is adopted!” McGonagall didn’t back down.

“Minerva, we all miss Potters, okay? But clinging on a false hope is just silly. It’s time to move on,” Flitwick hoped off the chair and adjusted his collar. “He could be an abandoned American wizard child that the family adopted and raised in Japan. Also, you are forgetting the fact that Japan is on the other side of the Earth. Are you saying that Potters had secret ties with Japan and left his son right before You-Know-Who invaded their hideout? Nonsense!”

"Accidental magic?" 

"Impossible," Flitwick rejected McGonagall's speculation. "Untrained raw magic can do many things, but such degree of apparation has not been heard of and is extremely unlikely. Also, I thought I was talking to a Malfoy, not a Potter."

“He really was rude,” McGonagall reluctantly agreed. “But so was James. He wasn’t exactly a model student either. Smart, but arrogant and boastful.”

“Not in the way that kid was. Do you think James would ever complain about fashion?”

“Different upbringing, different personality, Filius,” said Dumbledore.

“Oh, for crying out loud, not you too!” Flitwick threw his hand up in frustration. “Okay, let’s say that he really is Harry Potter. How are you going to prove it? You tried to negotiate with Gringotts head and failed, and I doubt he will change his mind now.”

“Do you know anything about Japan, Albus?” McGonagall asked hopefully.

          “Japan has never been very cooperative with us,” Dumbledore stared at the ceiling, “the only time I even talked to the Chancellor was the ICW conference during the wartime. He was a vice chancellor at that time, I believe. He suggested that we draft all the legal adults to fight Voldemort and formally train the underage children in the school.”

“He wanted to force the people to fight and arm the children? What a dastardly man!” McGonagall gasped.

“Well, we did accept young wizards in Order of Phoenix to fight You-Know-Who,” said Flitwick. McGonagall stared at him. “What? James and Lily were barely adults! They were eighteen! Not to mention _he_ \- ” Flitwick pointed at Snape, “ – used to spy on Death Eaters. Honestly, I think the ministry should have at least helped the public better defend against the Death Eaters. We were far too shorthanded.”

“Still, it doesn’t sound so moral to me…” said McGonagall.  

Albus tuned out the others and contemplated on his own. It seemed like his prayer of eleven years was finally answered. After he exhausted his resources to track down the Boy-Who-Sacrificed, he trained Neville Longbottom as an alternative savior, but Merlin, the boy was just _abysmal_ with magic. The poor boy was so bad that Albus secretly thought that the boy could pass as a squib. No amount of personal tutoring seemed to help bloom his potential. It didn’t help that Augusta was too harsh on the boy.

However, the miracle just happened in the most unexpected way.

Although he had no concrete evidence that Hasu Katakura was Harry Potter, he swore that the boy looked just like his parents; Lily’s unique green eyes, James’ slender face, even nose and mouth, there was no mistake in it. The only difference was that his long hair, unlike James’ untidy bird nest, was combed neatly and tied with a white ribbon behind his back. If the couples were alive, they would weep in tears in joy to see their son alive.

Except, the boy was so spoiled.

Dumbledore didn’t miss a pompous look from Harry’s eyes when he entered the office and looked around it. His aristocratic appearance proved his proud personality, and his attitude reeked of upper-class’ vanity and privilege, a complete foil to Potter characters. Dumbledore was sure that Lily and James would never want their son to be such person.

Then there were problems of taking him back and putting him under a proper care. He might be able to eventually expose Harry to the public, but then hundreds of wizards would claim to adopt him. He had already spent eleven years in Japan, far too long to take away Katakura’s custody over him unless Dumbledore could somehow prove that they stole the child. His followers overestimated his authority as a Supreme Mugwump, but Harry Potter issue was, while extremely well-known all over the Europe, _not_ International Confederate of Wizards’ responsibilities. Forcefully questioning the family would constitute multiple counts of power abuses and would only lose him any chance to reclaim Harry Potter.   

Yes, he had to proceed _slowly and seamlessly_.

He must find infallible ways to argue that Japan was harmful for Harry and find trustworthy people to protect him. The older child already said that Harry was harassed for being different, but that wasn’t enough. Dumbledore had to get close to Harry and learn more personal details to use them against Katakuras. He knew from his many years of teaching that people with bullying experiences – like Severus – could grow tough exteriors, but once they opened to others, they were just hurt souls.

Dumbledore resisted from smiling in an irony; he was planning to break a family when he himself valued families, but it was necessary. Voldemort would come back in the future, and he needed to guide Harry to the right way. What the world needed was a valiant, selfless and kind protector, not an entitled, materialistic and uppity heir that clearly looked down on British wizards. He didn’t need another version of Malfoy boy that Lucius loved to brag about in the ministry.

Speaking of Malfoys, Dumbledore wondered the extent of Katakura’s power within Japan. The mother briefly mentioned her meeting with the parliament, and it was enough for him to deduce that the family played significant roles in the politics. He remembered the war-hardened face of Japanese Chancellor and wondered how close the family was to him. Did they have him in their pocket like Malfoy did with Lucius? 

It was time to reach out to his old contacts.  

 

 


	4. Subterfuge

 

“Dual citizenship?”

“M-hm.”

“That would only be allowed in the extreme case-”

“-which our son’s case is.”

Chancellor Tokugawa leisurely sunk in his chair while Katkura Motoe leaned by the window in the Parliament Conference chamber. The chamber, situated in the Edo capital city of Republic of Japan, was large and had a long wooden table across the room. The deep brown wall was decorated with cherry blossom tree murals, partially shone by the moonlight that seeped through the windows.

“The Gringotts Head said that Dumbledore was a leader of this closely-knit vigilante group called _Order of Phoenix_ during the Wizarding War, and Potters were quite well known as Dumbledore’s zealous supporters. Clearly, they must have been personally close to each other. Judging from the geezer’s reaction when we visited the school, he must have recognized some resemblance from Hasu. He now must be thinking that we somehow stole him,” Motoe tapped her finger on the window and grinned, “but don’t worry. Gringotts is somewhat independent from British ministry. It is all confidential, and Ragnuk will not say anything to Dumbledore.”

“Did you know all this from the day your husband brought him?”

“No, but my _lovely_ husband,” her finger tapped a bit forcefully as she mentioned him, “may have planned all this from the start. He is the one who suggested that we take Hasu for a parentage test I can’t prove it, but I’ve always doubted that he really found Hasu outside his family temple. Always hiding something under his sleeves…”

“I still don’t know why this has to remain confidential to their ministry.”

“Because!” Motoe slammed the wall. “Haven’t we been seeking to expand our international influences over other magical societies? This is a perfect time. The wars that were waged by two pureblood maniacs have made Europe more favorable for non-purebloods, and the non-pureblood population is only going to grow. There will be an inevitable culture clash between Seculars and traditional wizard communities. That’s where my son comes in; Hasu can serve as a symbol of a modernized magical society. We have embraced secular technologies and made this country much more efficient, powerful and innovative than any other nations. We are superior to them, and Hasu can show everyone our Republic of Japan’s cultural and technological superiority to those dilapidated European fools. And you think those purebloods will thank us for taking care of him for last eleven years? No! Instead, they will fight tooth and nails to take away the last heir of Potter from us!”

“You are being a little paranoid there,” Tokugawa took a cigar from his pocket and lit it, “so what if your brat is exposed? What power do they have to delegitimize your custody over him? Didn’t you say that there is no other Potter left?”

“The Sacred Twenty-Eight families, the ones who are _truly_ pure,” Motoe scoffed, “are related to each other in some ways. There must be some distant pureblood families that will immediately take a chance to adopt Hasu. They are obsessed with blood families in a different way from we are. The idea of magical blood purity is ingrained in their heads, and they would give up a good bit of their fortune if it meant to house the last Potter heir.”

“And the fact that Dumbledore, the Supreme Mugwump and the Wizengamot leader and a war hero, is from Britain may increase the risks even more?” Tokugawa deduced.

“Correct.”

“And you want to get him a dual-citizenship because in case he is recorded as a British citizen, it will immediately revoke his Japanese citizenship, and it will complicate your guardianship over him.”

Tokugawa mused about the last time he met the old wizard when he was a vice Chancellor a decade ago during the ICW conference where representatives fervently discussed how they would track down the most dangerous, elusive dark wizard, Lord Voldemort. He remembered how disgusted Dumbledore looked when Tokugawa boldly suggested a mandatory draft of adult wizards and military training of students. Lots of European representative expressed their revulsions by his proposition, while Eastern European representatives seemed to agree with his idea. Dumbledore even reprimanded him for “uncannily harsh and inhumane solution.”

What naïveté.

However, Tokugawa knew that Dumbledore was the cleverest wizard in Europe of this century, and many relied on his advices. He defeated Grindelwald single-handedly, led many successful battles against the Death Eaters, and held _two_ important political positions. There was no way that such brilliant tactician was as naïve and good as others perceived No politician was ever innocent, and he wondered what deceptions Dumbledore employed behind his benevolent mask.

“I need some time to consider your request. Give me a week or two, and I will have an answer,” said Tokugawa.

“It shouldn’t be hard.”

“This is a matter of national security. I am not almighty as you think.”

Tokugawa then summoned a chrysanthemum tea pot and tea cups. He poured one for himself and Motoe.

“Thank you,” Motoe accepted the tea.

“And how exactly do you plan your boy to proselytize Europeans?” Tokugawa asked skeptically.

“We need him to acquaint a good investor that will help spread our influence” Motoe sipped her tea, “someone who’s prosperous and politically renowned. I did some research about British purebloods, and one my agents who works in European stock market provided me a very interesting information. Ever heard of Malfoy family? They are the most prominent purebloods in Britain, but their ancestors were deeply involved in muggle mercantile world in the past. The current head, Lucius Malfoy, is no different. According to my agent, he uses an alias in secular Britain to invest in stock markets and manipulate them in his favor. Not so pureblood, isn’t it?”

“It would be scandalous if other purebloods caught a wind of it,” Tokugawa grinned in understanding of Motoe’s intention.

“Exactly,” Motoe’s eyes glinted like an eagle, “things like stocks are so mundane and vulgar to purebloods. Lucius Malfoy may be powerful, but if I give an anonymous tip to ICW, ICW will cooperate with secular authorities to track down his illegal investment activities and charge him with a violation to secular stock laws and Magical British Investment laws. More importantly, his family reputation will be dragged to dirt for a long time.”

“And you are going to use that as a blackmail to make Malfoys do what, strike a business deal? And you need your son to make that bridge?”

“That will be our first step,” Motoe nodded and put down her tea cup on the table, “but this is only the first step. I have more plans to, how do I put this…yes, _invade them culturally,_ but that will be for another time. This is going to be beneficial for both him and me. He can establish a vendor that sells various Japanese products and ‘endorse’ them to British consumers. We can start with things like magically enhanced notebook, portable music device, portable phone, television and whatnot. Do you know that the British ministry failed to legitimize magical television multiple times because they thought it would breach Statue of Secrecy? Well, we can show them that they are wrong; we can watch soap operas all day without getting detected by secular Japan. This alone will make so much profits! I have shared this idea with others, and they all agreed that Britain is a potential gold mine for the new markets. Why do you think I have been working so hard to pass the bills to make international business regulations more lenient?”

“Always seamlessly prepared, Motoe. Who am I to stop your ambition?” Tokugawa clapped with an impressed face. “But will your son do that for you?”

“As long as Hasu doesn’t fight everyone he runs into in Hogwarts, everything will be fine. I just have to make Hasu befriend Malfoys. He doesn’t like taking orders from me, but I know he will do it…he may be frustrated that people don’t treat him as a Japanese, but he won’t refuse an opportunity to make Japan proud.”

“What about China?”

“What about it?”

“How will China come into play in this new dynamic that you seek?”  

“I am sure that Chinese minister will be eager to join our cause to expand our influences. But that will have to wait.” Motoe stared at the bottom of her tea cup, thinking hard. China and Republic of Japan always remained friendly with each other despite their secular counterparts’ rather unpleasant history. “We have to have reputation first in Europe, _then_ we will try to recruit China. China is closer to other large wizard communities like Russia and India, and they have remained amicable despite ideological differences. We want China to help us, not side with others and stand in our way. It’s time that we become a superpower of magical world, like United States is over its secular world.”

“So we are completely ignoring American wizards?”

“For now, yes. They will need to take a side someday, either with Europe or us. Unlike many magical communities’ governments who have somehow affected secular societies, MACUSA have stayed completely withdrawn from the secular world. They stayed out of the Second World War even when a wizard village near the Pearl harbor was damaged during the war. Isn’t that strange?”

“Had they done so, they could have caught us kidnapping a few American wizards for the top secret researches,” Tokugawa paused with a worried face, “do you think they will ever find out?”

“Not in eons, no.” Motoe grinned like fox. “It’s been too long since it happened, and unless they want to go back in time for fifty years, it’s nearly impossible. It will always remain between my family and yours.”

The two longtime allies lowly chuckled.   

“And what do I get in return for promoting your cause?” Tokugawa’s eyes glinted shrewdly.

“I will help cast all my relatives’ votes on you for the next 1994 election,” Motoe thinly smiled like she expected him to ask the question, “and during the charity event this weekend, I will help lobby the Congress members to pass the upcoming fiscal year’s budget amendments.”

“The one that partially defunds research expenses for ancient marine mythological creatures?” Tokugawa arched his eyebrows.

“Yes, those ridiculous waste of money needs to stop _now_. Who cares about some nonexistent magical creatures anyway?” Motoe sneered.

“Who knows? It _might_ exist, though I agree it’s unimportant,” Tokugawa agreed. “Will you be able to handle nasty criticisms from the conservatives?”    

“As long as we watch out each other’s back, all will be well.”

Motoe and Tokugawa chuckled in satisfaction. The future seemed prosperous and glorious to them.

* * *

“Why couldn’t we have just sent the servants to do the shopping?” 

“They are all going to be busy preparing the annual charity event. Now come along, be a good boy.” Hijashi lightly tugged Hasu. “Less you complain, faster we will be done.”

Hasu rolled his eyes but didn’t answer back at his father. He was never a fan of school shopping; none of such stuff was exciting like new fantasy bestsellers or aesthetic like new kimonos fashions. At least he was shopping with his father. He always had soft spots for Hasu and liked to take him out just for the two of them. Mother would often accuse him of cuddling Hasu too much, but he wasn’t fazed by her anger a bit. In fact, he was the only person that she couldn’t intimidate, and Hasu thought it was amusing because he knew very few people that she couldn’t bully into doing something for her.

           Walking down the street, he quickly became aware that almost every wizard and witch that passed by him stared at him. He knew very well that his rich, Japanese attire was very distinguishable, and he reveled in the attention he received. He refused to be likened to these antiquated fools and wanted to look elegant and modern.

           _Watch all you want,_ you buffoons. _This is how you dress up._  

           Hijashi and Hasu breezed through bookstores and apothecaries and left the store as soon as they got the required items. There was still a month until the school started, so there weren’t so many customers. The clerks and the customers looked at them with utter curiosity, but Hasu made sure that his face screamed _don’t talk to me_ and deliberately avoided eye contacts with anyone.

           “We are not going to buy an owl,” said Hijashi as he opened the entry door at Madam Malkin’s shop. “Japan is too far away from here, and the border control won’t allow it. When we get home, I will give you a prototype computer that you can use to communicate with us in real time.”

           “Good idea, dad. I don’t want a smelly bird anyway. I already have two pets at home…three if you count Koshuryo. Do you think I can bring Maki? I mean, if you can bring a cat, you should be able to bring a dog, too.”

           “We can make Maki smaller if you want, but let’s talk about that later. Sit here while I talk to the shop owner, okay?” Hijashi pointed at a wooden chair near the mirror with a smile, and Hasu obediently plopped on the chair. He looked around the shop with a dismayed expression. The uniforms’ sleeves were too long, and the textile was too floppy to his liking. It was too bad that the school didn’t let him alter them; his Japanese school allowed minor adjustment like shorter sleeves and color changes at a small charge.  The other robes were also too old fashioned and reminded him of stereotypical wizards and witches in Western fairy tales.

           _Feels like I am in a Tokyo Disney Land._

He turned on his _Walkman_ and picked his favorite secular song. Oh, what a wonderful non-magical invention it was. It was one of few things that helped Hasu take his mind off from his frustration. A company in Republic of Japan imported the item a few years ago from a secular company and magically augmented it so that the music could play only into the listeners’ ears without headsets or earphones.  He could listen to it as loud as he wanted, and nobody would not hear a thing.

_”…_ _The phone rang in the morning, breaking the silence…_ ”

Hasu started to quietly sing along the lyrics and stared into the air. He recalled everything that Mr. Ragnuk II told him about Harry Potter and wondered how everyone here would react if he told them who he was. Would they expect him to be like his parents: brave Gryffindors who stood against blood purism? A dragon-slaying warrior like some adventure fiction books’ protagonists that were based on him? An overpowered wizard that was even worse than Voldemort?

All those poetic things aside, he just hoped that people would accept him as he was, instead of trying to fit him in their imaginations or reject him. And if they didn’t? Well, then all the hell would break loose until he _made_ them respect him. He was never afraid of fist or curse fight with others.

“… _I feel as if I were living in the continuation of the dream…”_

“Excuse me-“

“ _Ah,fuck!”_  
Hasu loudly swore when a pale hand suddenly waved right in front of his eyes.  He turned off the music and angrily glared at the rude person who dared to spook him like that.

What he saw was a slick, all-back blonde hair boy with arms crossed right in front of Hasu. Hasu glared at him and assessed his appearances.

No respect to others? check.

Annoying? Check.

Nouveau-rich? Possibly.

“You almost gave me a heart attack,” Hasu glared at the boy.  
“I am sorry,” the stranger apologized insincerely. “I was just curious what you were doing.”

“Listening to music,” Hasu curtly answered.

“I don’t hear anything,” the other boy frowned.

“Of course, you won’t,” smugness crept into Hasu’s voice, “it’s designed to send sound waves only to my ears so that it doesn’t bother other people. I was in my me-time until you so politely interrupted. Of course, you won’t be able to understand how it works, you being a British and all.”

“Excuse me? What’s that supposed to mean?”

“Everything is so tacky and stale here,” Hasu brushed his hair haughtily, “you people are like carbon copies of fairy tale witches and wizards. Does anything change anything at all? Just looks at this place. It’s like you cut it off from eighteenth century novel!”

“I assume you must be a muggle lover?” The boy sneered. “Always complaining about how this and that is old and nonsensical. You obviously don’t understand our culture.”

“I do, and here is my assessment: lazy, static, and boring. It sucks,” Hasu interrupted with a sneer and continued before the other could speak, “and I am not a muggle lover. I know that they are dangerous to our existence, and we should prioritize our safety. However, they sure are very useful. Our country has long researched ways to incorporate magic with their technologies, and this-“ Hasu waved his _walkman_ in front of the boy, “-is an example. But again, I don’t want to spend time explaining how this works.”

“That’s impossible. Technologies and magic don’t mix together.”

“Like I said, only lazy people would say that.”

“And where are you from? Your accent is definitely not from here, but the language you were singing in was not English or French.”

“Before I answer that,” Hasu looked into the grey eyes, “you tell me about yourself. First you interrupt me listening to music, then you interrogate me? How undisciplined.”

“Do you know who I am?” The boy’s face was getting red.

“No, but you sure are acting like a rich, vulgar commoner. And I don’t care,” Hasu rested his face on his hand, showing unbridled boredom and irritation.

“I am,” the boy patiently answered, “Draco Malfoy.”

Hasu lazily blinked. “Uh-huh.” 

”One of the proudest pureblood families in Britain?” The boy pompously declared, but his voice wavered when he saw Hasu’s uninterested face. “How can you not know? Malfoys are very well known all over the Europe.”

“Exactly. I am not from Europe.”

“America, then?”

“You really don’t know anything about other cultures, do you?” Hasu slowly shook his head.

“Why don’t you just say it then?” Malfoy surrendered with his hands in the air.

“I am from Japan, or formally known as _Republic of Honshu,”_ Hasu answered and continued, “and I don’t expect you to know where Japan is, much less which continent it is part of.”   

“Listen, if you are going to disrespect me like this-“

“What’s all this commotion?” Hijashi interjected Draco’s angry voice. His arms held a couple shopping bags, and Hasu wondered why father bought whatever was in there. “Has my son offended you in any way?”

“My, Draco. Raising a voice in public? where are your manners?”

A woman with pale blond hair with a black highlight appeared behind one of the clothes rack. She fluidly moved with a rich, black silk dress and chided Draco. “Draco, why are you causing this embarrassing commotion here? What would your father say?”

“But mother, he doesn’t’ know our last name!” Draco fumed. Hasu rolled his eyes.

“Draco, decorum,” the mother spoke hard in a way that reminded Hasu of his mother. Draco shut up but kept glaring Hasu. She then said, “I apologize for my son’s impudence. He can be sometimes unruly, being an only child in my family. Narcissa Malfoy, by the way.”

“I am Katakura Hijashi, and this is my son, Hasu,” Hijashi smiled and patted Hasu’s head. “I guess we have a common ground. My son here is the youngest of my three children, and I spoiled him a wee bit. His mother blames me for cuddling him too much.”

“He almost gave me a heart attack while I was listening to music!”

“I called you three times, but you didn’t respond!”

“Then maybe you should have left me alone and go f-“

“ _Son,_ ” Hijashi warned in a low voice with a no longer smiling face when Hasu almost swore at Draco. Hasu instead of crossed his arms and glared back at Draco. Hijashi then continued with a smile back on his face, “it’s obvious that this was a simple miscommunication problem. Why don’t you two just say sorry to each other and move on?”  

“Suitable solution,” the mother agreed.

“But-“

_“Draco_ , _”_ her voice was calm but strained, “we will talk about this with your father when we get home, Understood? Now, apologize.”

Draco pouted.

“Well?”  

“I am sorry for startling you,” Draco managed to say it in a strangled voice. Hasu merely stared at Draco.

“Son?”

“I am sorry that I…uh…,” Hasu mentally searched for the words, “…that I wasn’t polite.’”

“…Apology accepted,” said Draco dryly. “Mother, can we go now?”

“May I ask where you are from? You don’t look or sound like you are from here,” Narcissa ignored Draco and asked Hijashi.  

“We are from Japan. My son has wanted to study abroad for quite some time, so I decided to enroll him in Hogwarts for a year,” said Hijashi.

“Japan? Such a faraway country!” Narcissa covered her mouth in a surprise. “I am not well-versed in a geography, but I didn’t know that there are European descents in Japan.”

“We are unique cases,” Hasu shrugged. 

“I hope you find everything pleasant here in Britain, young man. What made you choose Hogwarts?”

“Well-“

But he was interrupted by a loud, moaning voice, “mom, clearance stuff again? Can we buy new clothes for once?”

“Stop complaining, Ronnie. Be happy that you are not getting clothes from your brothers.”

Hasu turned to see the voices’ origins and saw a red-haired boy tugging another red-haired, plump woman who was rummaging through the trouser rack with a sign that said, ‘ _less than 15 sickles_!’. He noticed that both the mother and her son were dressed in neat but old clothes, starkly different from him or anyone else around him. The woman continued, “appearance isn’t important, Ron. You can be popular by being rich and dressing nicely, but then you would only have shallow people around you.”

“You said James potter was popular and had great friends,” the redhaired boy moaned.

“Well, yes. Except Sirius Black turned out to be a traitor. Who knows what happened to that poor baby after You-Know-Who blew himself up,” she bitterly said while rummaging through the shorts.

“Do you think Harry Potter is alive out there? What do you think he’d be like?” Ron asked with hopeful eyes. “It’d be cool if he magically appears at Hogwarts and hang out with me. He defeated _You-Know-Who_ and ended the war! It’s too bad that some death eaters avoided Azkaban like slimy Slytherins they are.”

“Ron, just let me find a new trouser, okay?” The mother sighed.

“And maybe he and I can be friends, just like you and the Potters did. We can play Quidditch too!” Ron ignored her plea and continued.

“You already have Neville as your friend, Ron. Now, go try these,” Ron’s mom finally picked a pair of blue trousers and tried to drag him to the fitting room.

“But Neville is always busy!” Ron complained. “Professor Dumbledore always trains him, and he is so exhausted. I feel bad for him. Why does he train Neville so hard anyway?”

“I am sure the headmaster has good intentions, Ron. Now could you please go try these before I yell at you in public?”    

Ron sighed and got into the fitting room with the blue trousers. His mother shook her head exasperatedly and muttered, “when will he stop his silly fantasy?” She then sat on a chair outside the fitting room.

“Are you okay, Mr. Katakura?” Narcissa surveyed Hasu’s face. He looked contemplative for some reasons.

“I am, why wouldn’t I be? Father, can we go now?” Hasu quietly asked.

“Don’t you have to try out the robes?” Draco frowned.

“I know his sizes, so I just asked Ms. Malkins to tailor the robes based on the numbers I gave her,” said HIjashi as he waved a shopping bag on his right hands. “It was great to meet you Mrs. Malfoy. And you too, young Mr. Malfoy. It’s getting late in Japan, and I don’t want to make my family worry about us.”

“Nice to see you, Mr. Katakura. I hope you make friends here, dear.”

“Thank you.”

“You should be sorted into Slytherin, Katakura,” Draco stated, ”Slytherin is for clever and ambitious people, and I know I will be sorted there. My parents were Slytherins when they were in school.”

“What, we can’t talk to each other if we are in different houses?”

“It’s just easier that way,” said Draco. “Ravenclaw is fine, but they can be too boring and bookworm. Gryffindors are just stupid, pretentious idiots who think they are heroes or something. Hufflepuff….well, they are losers, no one cares about them. Slytherin is the best.”

 

“That’s good and all, but I think we should be really going now,” Hasu said as he saw the Weasley boy walking out of the dressing room. “Good bye, Mrs. Malfoy and Draco. See you in Hogwarts.”

“See you.” Draco waved, and Hasu curtly nodded and left the store with his father. Narcissa, satisfied, patted her son’s shoulder.

“Well done, son.”

Why did you want me to talk to him?” Draco asked.

“For future purpose, Draco. For the future good,” Narcissa thinly smiled.

Narcissa Malfoy had been watching his son trying to talk to another boy in distance. Usually, she would forbid him from talking to lowly mudbloods and halfbloods to prevent him from learning their uncouth and so-called progressive ideas. She viewed most of them as threats to their status and the stability of _their_ society.

But this time, she encouraged him to talk to the strange boy.  

She was at apothecaries with Draco to buy potion supplies when she saw Katakura father and son. Lucius might call her crazy for thinking this, but when she saw Hasu at the apothecaries, she doubted her eyes. His chiseled face and startling green eyes were easily distinguishable to anyone who knew James and Lilly Potter. The British Wizarding world was very small, and if one looked for right traits, it was easy tell who was related to whom. And Narcissa was particularly keener than others.

_That boy_ had _to be Potter spawn,_ thought Narcissa.

It made her heart flutter uncontrollably; did she just find the last Potter heir that was lost for eleven years? The boy that other Death Eaters and Dark Lord’s supporters wondered if he was even more powerful dark wizard? The ministry had announced that the Dark Lord was obliterated by a freak accident, but some zealous followers like her sister and Lestranges refused to believe that someone who was clever and cunning like Dark Lord died from an accident. It was an insult not just to their master, but to the followers as well. Some even hoped that the Dark Lord had hidden away for a reason, and that it was just a part of his grand scheme.

           However, Malfoys thought that the Dark Lord might have been truly gone. There were many brilliant people in the history who died in the most unceremonious ways, so why not him? Malfoys decided to return to their opulent lifestyle and forget about Dark Lord. She saw the purebloods’ hopes slowly disintegrating over the last decade, and Narcissa thought it was wise for them to move on and enjoy their lives She concluded that there was no second coming of Dark Lord or his husband’s master. She did, however, vaguely hope that someone else would rally for their causes.

           But, it seemed that things would change very quickly.

Narcissa followed Hasu and his father. She was first surprised that Harry Potter – if he really was, which she was sure he was – spoke completely different language and dressed so differently, and then surprised again that he was a social elite, a stark opposite to his parents. Being one herself, she could effortlessly deduce that Hasu’s family was probably an upper-class family in his country. He had an arrogant look and standoffish, condescending aura that a proud elitist possessed, just like her husband did.

           She was then surprised for the third time when Hasu acknowledged the dangers of filthy mudbloods. Potters would be rolling in their graves if they had heard that their son wasn’t a disgraceful muggle-lover. It especially delighted her that the mudblood was being antagonized by her own son. The difference was that while he considered them as threats, he valued whatever silly tricks that muggles had – technologies, was it? She had to smile, though, as Lucius was exactly like that; he hated everything muggle, but he liked money enough to abuse muggle stocks to bloat his wealth through his close goblin associate, and even though he hated to admit it, his ancestors did the exactly same thing. _That_ was a true Slytherin tactic.

And the boy mentioned Japan. Narcissa recalled from a globe figure in her mansion that there was a continent called Asia, and Japan was one of them (she couldn’t remember others. Was China part of Asia?). It made sense because the clothes he wore and the language he spoke were nothing European. She knew next to nothing about Asia, except that they had their own rich history of ancient magic, and that they still practiced some of it.

           However, the Dark Lord had no ties with Asia. If Harry Potter lived in Japan for last eleven years, how on earth did he get there in the first place? Were there Asian followers that even the most loyal Death Eaters did not know about? That was unlikely, or Bellatrix of Lucius would have known.

           Either way, Narcissa was triumphant. Draco did a rather poor job to make a good impression with Harry Potter, but she easily mended the bridges. There was no doubt that the boy would be in Slytherin. His values didn’t perfectly synchronize with those of the British purebloods, but that could be amended through _friendship_ and connection.

Would it be possible to win custody over the boy, should the boy’s identity be exposed? She knew that he and Malfoys were distantly related from two or three generations, so that wasn’t completely infeasible. She just had to make sure that Draco appealed to Potter so that when the time come, Potter would side them. Everyone would want to take the last Potter heir to their house, so she had to remain silent about this until she had Potter in her and Lucius’ grasp.

And Malfoys would be regarded with even higher esteem and glory.


	5. Friends

 

 

_August 4th_

 

A hot sunlight was showering over the glass ceiling of Honshu Academy- Japan’s best preparatory magic school secretly situated at the highest peak of the Mount Hokada. The school was surrounded by an enormous, circular range on which the wards spanned across the atmosphere in the vicinity and obscured the school from Seculars’ detection. While the mountain itself was easily accessible to Secular hikers, the highest peak was surrounded by the wards that led the hikers to second highest peak unbeknownst to them. It was one of the greatest and oldest magic that combined magic of humans and nature into a nigh-impossible trickery.

 

The school prided itself as one of the oldest magical education institute in Japan _and_ in the world and as one of the first school to implement the idea of modern education since the twentieth century. The global political turbulence during the twentieth century compelled the school to go through large educational changes such as additions of western language courses and secular science courses, modifications of Brewery to Magical Chemistry, and even creations of new fields such as _Thaumatechnology , or magic technology_. The school evolved into a not only modernized institution with comprehensive curricula but also the forerunner of magical developments in Honshu Republic. The scholars and the students took pride in the school’s philosophy and progresses that enriched Japanese society.

 

Hasu was currently walking through the West Wing of Science hallway with piles of books and papers. He had just dropped by Office of Academic Success to turn in his _Badge of Academic Honor_ and notify the teachers that he would be studying abroad this year. Annually, the school elected the group of the best student in each year as a peer leader to empower the other students and instill the belief of superior Japanese education into them. The peer leaders enjoyed privileges of advanced materials and loose dress regulations while working as a peer tutor and help teachers organize the classes. Hasu kept his badge for four years in a row since he enrolled in the school, and he had immensely pleased with the benefits and duties that came with the honor. It was the best way to make other snooty idiots shut up and do what he told them, and it was such a disappointment for him that he had to start over again when he would come back next year.

 

Hasu now had to pick up his fifth-grade textbooks and list of make-up assignments from his Magical Chemistry teacher, Ms. Genma. She told Hasu that he would have to finish them to catch up with other fifth graders and properly start sixth year curriculum when he returned to Japan. Hasu thought it shouldn't be so difficult. Hogwart’s first year material couldn’t possibly be harder than anything he had been taught for last six years. Now that he thought of it, he wondered if his Hogwarts teachers would pick on him for not using a wand. When he asked his father why they skipped the wand shop, Hijashi vaguely replied that he would get a special one that would suit him perfectly.

 

 

_As long as I get one…_

 

Hasu, too immersed in his thoughts, did not see another person in his way and bumped into him. The books in his hands fell to the floor with loud thuds. He was about to say sorry and go on his way, but his face scrunched when he realized who it was front of him.

 

“Watch where you are going, you orphan.”

 

 the other boy sneered at Hasu

 

“No, you watch where you are going, mama-boy,” Hasu retorted right back at his school enemy. He was about ten centimeters taller than Hasu, had short black hair, and wore a pair of simple hakama and pants with an emblem of cloudy mountains. The two glared at each other for seconds, but Hasu tore his eyes away first, picked up the books, and walked away.

 

“I heard you are going to barbaric Britain. Is that true?” The taller boy shouted to Hasu’s back.

 

“And if I am?” Hasu kept walking without turning around.

 

“About the time.” Hasu ignored the boy’s nasty tones and kept walking. “Honshu Academy should be reserved to _real_ Japanese only, not a rootless mongrel who was just lucky to be adopted by one of the most prestigious families! Are you leaving permanently? I am going to throw a party if you are.”

 

“And that _mongrel_ is richer than you, has better grades than you, more handsome than you, and above all, has more political connections than you,” Hasu turned around with a big smile. The word _mongrel_ had long stopped affecting him. “I consider myself as a young ambassador for Japan. The teachers in Office of Academic Success told me that I should show the Britain how great Japanese education is. They trust me to be a good representative for Japan. Do you think they would say the same for you, who only scrapes by B- even with three tutors dangling around you?”

 

_And here it goes._

 

 Just as Hasu expected, Furushima’s face blushed with jealousy and frustration. The boy had always taunted Hasu for being “a mongrel that pretends to be a real Japanese” and boasted to everyone about his family’s fame as one of the oldest and most affluent family living in Japan _every day_. His mother was also a member of Education Board which boosted his infinitely inflated ego. Ironically, the family lacked political ties that many renowned Japanese families-including Hasu’s family- had, and Hasu enjoyed rubbing it the older boy whenever he had chance.

 

             “It’s so sad that someone as prestigious as Furushima family is isolated from politics,” Hasu kept jeering at the older boy with an even bigger grin, “I wonder why that’s the case. Oh, I know! Whose family was it that barely escaped conviction of meddling with secular Japan society during 1936? Remember when Imperial Japanese Army tried to take over the Secular Japan Empire?”

 

“We have nothing to do with it,” Furushima snapped.

 

“Of course,” Hasu sneered.  “It was entirely coincidental that one of the rebel’s name belonged to your grandfather’s brother.”

 

Hasu was about to open the gate to the East Wing and leave the foolish boy behind. However, his hand froze when Furushima yelled at him. “Your mother is a disgrace, marrying a foreigner! And not just a foreigner. Japanese with filthy American blood running inside. She is a failure as the head of house, not to mention your father, who is also a mon-”

 

Hasu quickly threw the books sideways and turned around to summon rune circles and throw series of spells at the insolent boy. The older boy, not expecting attacks, quickly raised a shield around him to block the spells. The spells dissipated to smokes and left burning smells.

 

“Are you crazy! Attacking me in the school!” Furushima screamed bloody hell. 

 

Hasu ignored the panicking idiot. He summoned several small, sharp knives on fire and launched them. Furushima raised the shield again, but this time, the daggers violently blew up as they collided with the shield. The shield was shattered and knocked Furushima back a few meters away.

 

“Why, you-” Furushima got on his feet immediately, and was about to cast spells.

 

However, he couldn’t finish his preparation as a wall of blue glass was erected between Hasu and Furushima. Hasu turned around with anger to see who was disrupting his fight. There were two other boys with distinct clothing a few meters away from the opposite side of the East Wing entrance.

 

“You must be out of your mind, Hasu.” One of them ran to Hasu, and shook his shoulder. “You could have really killed him!”

 

“Oh, come on, I wouldn’t kill someone you know?” Hasu shrugged, his anger dissipating. It was just his friends coming to visit him.

 

“I would like to actually see that,” another boy smirked and glared at Furushima. Furushima glared back at the trio with contempt and disdain.

 

“How did you know where I was, you two?”

 

“I met one of your teachers who told me you were heading to East Wing from West Wing. So, we figured you would be around here,” the first boy explained. He lifted the blue wall between Furushima and them but held his hand on the air just in case. 

 

“A loud Chinese and a wimpy Korean,” Furushima sneered at the two interrupters. “I say this everytime I see you two, but I guess it’s never enough; too bad Secular Japan couldn’t enslave you lots.”

 

“You little shit-” the young, Chinese wizard cracked his knuckles.

 

“Don’t engage him, Qiang!” A Korean boy shouted. “You already burned his hair last year and almost got in suspension!”

 

“Scums like him deserve to burn in a hell fire, Shi-baek,” Qiang seethed. “You don’t get to call other disgraces, Furushima. Your family is just as bad.”

 

“Oh, you still sad over your grandfather’s death?” Furushima chuckled maliciously. Qiang’s eyes lit like a vengeful fire. “Your grandfather was weak. My grandfather defeated him fair and square. Don’t simmer over it if you are a true-”

 

_Poof!_

 

Shi-baek threw a bag of dust at Furushima before Qiang charged to his nemesis. The dust colorfully exploded on the older boy’s face and knocked him out on the floor. He then started to snore loudly.

 

“Let’s just go.” Hasu sighed. “Thanks for coming here, Qiang, Shi-baek. Leave that baboon here.”

 

“You will get in trouble when the teachers find out,” said Shi-baek, “and give me those books. Why do you have so many 7th grader books by the way? And what was it that you wanted to talk about before we leave? We need to pack our stuff and go back to China,” He took the books from Hasu’s hands and threw them in his seemingly small, ordinary backpack. Distant thuds came from the bottom as the books landed the deep bottom

 

“Don’t worry about Furushima. He will kill himself before admitting that he let someone younger beat him down. I called you two here because, uh, I am studying abroad for a year at Britain.”

 

“Whaat~?” Qiang squinted his eyebrows. 

 

“Why are you going all the way there? Did you get scholarship or something?” Shi-baek asked.

 

Hasu thought for a good minute. Was it okay to tell them his heritage? He trusted his good friends to not make gossip out of it. They had known each other since they met in their first years’ school exchange program and built strong friendship for years.  _I mean_ , Hasu thought, _it’s not like it’s a bad thing to be an heir to most prestigious European wizard family_.

 

“You know that I don’t exactly know how I was left in Japan when I was a baby?”

 

“Yes?” The two foreign boys asked in unison.

 

             “Well...”

 

It took about half an hour to explain them that he was the long-lost son of the British wizard couple named James and Lily Potter, who were part of a vigilante group called Order of Phoenix during the decade long British Wizarding War of 1970s. They were murdered by a dark wizard who went by Lord Voldemort, a leader of right wing terrorists called Death Eaters. On the night of the murder, however, he somehow made the Lord Voldemort vanish into thin air while Hasu subsequently disappeared from his home. The ministry and Order of Phoenix searched him all over British Isle and neighboring European countries, but without any results, he was declared dead. His parents found an old _Daily Prophet_ edition and read a lengthy article about the lost baby Potter, visited Gringotts and successfully tested his Potter heritage and let him gain access to his Potter vault.

 

             Hasu observed his friends’ reactions after he was done with a rather haphazard explanation. They did look confused and surprised at the revelation, but fortunately for Hasu, they remained calm and cool-headed. Finally, Qiang asked a question.

 

             “So, you are a son of murdered couples named James and Harry Potter.” Hasu nodded at Qiang’s reiteration, “but you didn’t want to make it public because you didn’t want any attention. And you want to visit Hogwarts to learn more about your heritage?”

 

 “That’s great...that you know who your parents are. And we are sorry they are dead now...” Shi-baek looked hesitant and trailed off.

 

“But do you _really_ have to go to Hogwarts?” Qiang looked confused. “Your family must have some family history books, right? Surely you can learn about Potters that way?”

“I mean…,” Hasu wasn’t sure how he could describe his reason to go to Hogwarts without offending his friends. He didn’t want them to think that he was going to abandon them and make new friends in Britain or that he was going to flee to Britain because he couldn’t handle subtle discrimination, “I just want to have some foreign exchange student experience, you know? Except it’s kind of not because that’s the school I would have attended if my birth parents hadn’t died.”

 

“All I know is that Britain is pretty old-fashioned. That’s what my parents told me. Apparently, my cousin whom I have never met goes there, and she is one year older than I,” said Qiang.

 

“What’s her name?”

 

“I don’t know. I never asked.”

 

“I think it’s important to at least know what kind of magic Hogwarts teaches if you want to study for those weirdly named exams to get around your heirship rules,” Shi-baek contemplated. “Do they teach anything about technology? Or secular history?”

 

“No, which is also why I plan to buy all seven years of textbooks at some point to self-study for the NEWT and OWL. But hey, I am pretty sure they are not hard enough to make people jump off the bridges!” Hasu cracked a morbid joke and laughed.

 

“It’s not funny,” Shi-baek pouted.

 

“Sorry,” Hasu grinned.  

 

“Wait, then how are we supposed to send you gift? Your birthday is November 1st, right?” Qiang asked as if he had found a serious error. He couldn’t imagine not giving a gift to his best friend, and he wasn’t about to let Britain interfere him.

 

“Gringotts told me that my real birthday is July 31st, but I don’t care. Birthday isn’t a huge thing in Japan anyway, “Hasu shrugged. He had celebrated his birthday on November 1st for last ten years, and all he did was to buy some nice cake and eat out with his family. He didn’t deem it important enough to change it now.

 

“We are just going to send them like we did every year if they let international parcel. What do they use?” Shi-baek asked.

 

“An owl.”

 

“You’re kidding. This is like, 1991. They still use _birds?_ ” Qiang’s chin opened loosely in a disbelief. Shi-baek shared similar expression, and Hasu snorted at their reactions.

 

“I mean, you guys use a large crane to move between the buildings,” said Hasu. 

 

“That’s different! It’s one of the few traditions we have left in the school.”

 

“Crane abuse,” Hasu stuck his tongue out.

 

“Spoiled city boy,” Qiang smirked.

 

“Stop it, you two,” Shi- baek intervened before the other two boys would argue whose school was better, “Hasu, Qiang and I have to go now. We haven’t even packed our clothes yet at the dorm, and our teach will be so mad at us if he finds out. I would consider having a farewell party for you, but we just don’t have time. I am sorry.”

 

“It’s okay, Shi-beak. I understand. I wish the Summer Exchange Student program were a little longer,” Hasu smiled and hugged Qiang and Shi-baek. “Safe trip, okay? I will ask my parents how we can communicate to each other.”

 

“Your dad will think of something. He is a _genius_!” Qiang patted Hasu’s back and grinned. “Good luck with your study abroad. We will be in touch as soon as possible. Bye!”

  

The two boys quickly ran toward the exit and left Hasu behind who waved goodbye. It was depressing that his best friends did not go to same school as him, or he would have much better time in Honshu Academy. Qiang and Shi-baek were the only two people that Hasu could interact with his guards down in his class who always wanted to get something from Katakura family or talked shit behind his back.

 

“I hope I meet some decent people in Britain,” Hasu muttered. He then remembered Draco Malfoy and frowned immediately, “definitely not him.” 

* * *

 

 

“Your father told me that you met Malfoys while you were shopping for school supplies,” Motoe said to Hasu. She filed her nails carefully and wiped the dust with a tissue, “did you know that Malfoys are very influential in Britain? That they are perhaps the most powerful figures next to Professor Dumbledore in Britain?”

 _Oh Kami-sama,_ Hasu rolled his eyes. “I know they are racists.”

“Malfoys have always been politically involved since their ancestors set their feet in Britain,” Motoe ignored Hasu’s displeased tone and continued, “and they don’t stop at anything to accrue wealth even if it means doing something that no purebloods would do, like stocks. I recently found out that the head of Malfoy has actively been manipulating European stock markets for his own benefit. How interesting, isn’t it?”

“What does that have anything to do with me?”

“Hush, boy. Show your respect,” Motoe coldly glared at Hasu. Hasu stared back at her indifferently. “Anyway, my close colleagues and I have been discussing how we can expand markets in foreign countries. We need someone in Britain who’ll be willing to say, distribute and promote our products, but simply asking if he wants to help us would be a little awkward, wouldn’t it?”

“I don’t want to associate with idiots like Malfoys,” Hasu spat rebelliously. Malfoys reminded him of those who jeered at him for being a fake Japanese, and he wanted to do nothing with people who looked down on ‘mudbloods.’ Especially Draco Malfoy, who acted like a crass, nouveau-rich prat, was an absolute no-no. Hasu planned to be nothing more than polite to him, that was it.

“Really? Don’t you want to show everyone how great Japan is?” Motoe gave a penetrating stare go Hasu. “Isn’t that what it means to be a proud Japanese? To spread our greatness and influence to others? Malfoy is no more different than kids you deal with here. Why are you so upset?”

“I want to explore my Potter heritage, not make political connections with backward purebloods so that you can make more money. Why does it have to be through _me_?

“Because you are going there?” Motoe interlocked her fingers. “Listen, boy. You are lucky that you already met Malfoy kid and his mother. Get close to him. Try to, say, _proselytize_ him to our side. Show what we can do with magic and technologies, and how lucrative it will be for his father to help us expand our business in Britain. I am not asking you to be his friend, just be a bridge between Japan and Britain so that we can expand our influences. This is more than about business; this is about increasing our international presence.”

“I would love to do it if you didn’t try to shove it in my throat!”’

Motoe frowned, “are you refusing to help Japan be greater than ever? Then maybe I shouldn’t just let you explore your heritage for a year, but also let you stay there _forever_.”

“What?” Hasu asked blankly.

“I can go ahead and report to British Ministry that Harry Potter is well alive. You will immediately lose your Japanese citizenship, and there will be thousands of wizard families trying to adopt you, some of which may be Voldemort sympathizers that want to see you _dead in a mysterious circumstance_. Do you want to risk your life? Do you want to lose all these privileges that my family and Japan have offered you for last eleven years because you don’t want to listen to _me_? Think very carefully, Hasu. Your father may be Katakura as well, but _I_ am the head of this house. _I_ make the decision, not him.”

Hasu gritted his teeth.

“Well?”

“I will do it.” Hasu spat through his teeth, “but not because you tell me to. I would happily do what you want me to do, just not with Malfoy of all people.”

“It is true that he made a bad impression, but I believe that you are smart enough to _enlighten_ him,” Motoe smirked victoriously, “British are naïve and easily taken advantage of. I would even compare them to indigenous people.”   

Hasu rolled his eyes full circles and sighed. “Fine, but I can’t promise that I will be goody-goody to him. I will say whatever I want, I don’t care what he thinks.”

“Have you _ever_ cared what others thought of you?”

“I have cared enough to not sully my last name, or I wouldn’t be in a peer leader in my class.”

“But not enough to not fight your classmates from rival families and avoid detentions.”

“Because I don’t let others walk all over me and act superior to me when they can’t back up their pride with actions? It was _you_ who taught us to make ourselves worthy of our name, _mother_.”

“At least I taught you one thing right,” Motoe smirked proudly. “You’ve always been hard to raise, Hasu. Backtalking to your elders, arguing with people who disrespected you even a slight bit, sneaking into places that no other kids dared to go, playing pranks on people that you hate. If you were not so talented, I would have easily disowned you.”

“Thanks for confirming your kind love once again,” said Hasu sarcastically.

“The school starts on September first,” Motoe didn’t bother chastise Hasu and went on, “I have arranged an international travel through a secular Tokyo airport on August thirty-first. The guards will be with you all the time until you land in London City Airport and arrive at …Nine and Three Quarters station at London Station.”

“Why not just make an international travel like we visited Diagon Alley?”

“That was one-time favor from Chancellor and National Border Control. They are not our personal travel agencies, boy,” Motoe snapped, irritated. “Any question?”

             “I have a question about a pet-“

_Bark!_

“Maki!”

Hasu smiled widely and hugged a fluffy object that jumped onto him. It had lustrous black and white furs and a long, furry tail that wagged happily. Maki licked Hasu’s face again and again until Hasu finally laid him on his lap and rubbed his belly.

“Silly Maki,” Hasu booped Maki’s snoot as the dog eagerly tried to lick Hasu’s hand.  “Can I take Maki with me?”

“Absolutely not. Maki is a family dog, not your personal pet,” a sharp, younger female voice quickly answered. Himawari entered the living room with a shower gown and a towel on her brown hair.

             “Your sister is right, Hasu. No one can take Maki for themselves,” Motoe shook her head.

             “But I want to have my own pet at school who can play with me. Everyon will bring their own stupid pets like owl and toad, so why not a dog?” Hasu insisted.

             “Then you can take your slithering snake with you,” Himawari scoffed.    

             “Koshuryo? He isn’t really a pet…I don’t even know if he will say yes,” Hasu thought of the pompous rat snake that lived near Katakura mansion that he met when Hasu was nine years old.  The snake snuck in the garden while Hasu was counting the number of bees swarming around the roses on a breezy summer day. When Hasu heard the snake’s complaints about too many roses, he told the the snake to leave if he didn't like the garden. The snake instead curled himself around Hasu’s leg then demanded that Hasu be _his human,_ claiming that those who could speak with serpents were blessed by nature and  _must_ have a strong snake like himself. Despite Hasu’s shock and skepticism at the snake’s grandiose speech, he thought it would be fun to have his own special companion that no other could have and decided to keep him around. He named him _Koshuryo_ ( _small hunter)_ , which the snake refused to accept until Hasu promised to call him  _Large_ Hunger( _Oh-shuyo)_ when he grew more.

             “I will ask then,” Hasu put down Maki on the floor and headed to the hallway that led to a garden, leaving the whimpering dog in Himawari's hands.

             The long hallway was shone by moonlight in the clear sky. The garden that he went to had a small pond with couple lotus flowers afloat and a bamboo water fountain. It was at the center of many curvy, smooth rock trails surrounded by bushes of red spider lilies and fragrant olive trees that saturated the air with intoxicating aroma. Hasu picked the trail with cosmos patches and called out.

             “ _Shu”_.

Immediately, hisses came from a nearby cosmos patch, and a snake slithered out of it. The medium sized, dark-blue snake flicked its tongue as if feeling the floral aroma in the air, and it slowly crawled toward Hasu. Hasu wondered if it would grow even more; he was about two and half meters, which was more than when he first met the snake, but not long enough to be called _large hunter_.

             _“Hi, my lotus human,” Koshuryo_ hissed, _“what concerns you? I can sense some nervousness from your body.”_

             _“I am going faraway school this year, Shu.”_

_“Where?”_

             _“It’s called Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry in Great Britain_. _I will be there for at least a year,_ ” Hasu carefully observed the snake’s reactions as he spoke. _Shu_ didn’t like straying away from his usual residence, so asking him if he wanted to go with Hasu would be an immediate refusal.

             _“Why are you going there?”_

             _“My parents recently found that my birth parents are British sorcerers. I want to explore my heritages more closely_. _”_

 _“So you want to visit your birthplace? Is it as pretty as this garden?_ ”

             “Uhm…” Hasu hesitated. “I haven’t been to this school at all, but I heard the school is surrounded by a very large forest. _”_

 _“You sound uncertain,_ ” _Shu_ flatly stated.

             _“I don’t know how large the forest is or if I can go there,_ ” Hasu continued, “ _but listen to me. They need wands to cast magic all the time, but I don’t. Isn’t that cool? That means I can cast any spell in the forest alone without getting caught.”_

 _“Can’t cast spells without those sticks? How weak.” Shu_ hissed contemptuously. “ _But those aren’t the only reasons you want to go to Hogwarts.”_

Hasu sighed. He sometimes hated how _Shu_ could tell that he was either lying or hiding something.

_“Do the people there look like you?”_

_“That’s not important, but true.”_

_“Lies,” Shu_ hissed, _“you told me many times that people don’t respect you or even treat you like a decent human just because you look different. Perhaps you want to find some comfort or sense of belonging by being near those who look like you.”_

_“Listen, I am not running away to Britain or anything.”_

_“that’s not what I meant,” Shu_ shook his head, _“I am saying that it’s understandable to feel that way. It’s common to feel safe around those who are like you, that’s true for almost every creature. But what if they don’t accept you because you grew up in a different culture?”_

Hasu couldn’t answer.

             _“I don’t think you have thought this through enough.”_

 _“Look, I am going regardless,”_ Hasu recovered his determination, _“they don’t like me? Fine. I am not going there to be likeable for others but to explore my roots. I am not moving there forever.”_

 _“So you are going to fight everyone that you run into?”_ Shu asked.

             _“I don’t fight everyone. I only_ argue _with people who can’t back their talk and don’t respect me. I am not a street thug.”_

 _“Your choice,”_ Shu slithered up Hasu’s arm and licked his face, _“but if I go there with you, where will I stay? How will I eat?”_

             _“Hogwarts is surrounded by a large forest, it’s called_ Forbidden Forests. _I am sure you would find rats and frogs,”_ said Hasu, recalling the section about Hogwarts’ environment from _History of Magic_ , _“nobody can go in there, so you can just sleep and eat there…if I can’t keep you in the dorm. I promise to sneak you in the castle when we sleep.”_

_“The forest is like, a daycare house?”_

_“I guess. Maybe you should try to find other snakes and make friends.”_

             Shu quietly hissed and tilted his head. Shortly after, he decided, _“fine, I will go.”_

_“You sure?”_

_“I want to stay near where you are, and we both will be in the school ground, right? I will die in a boredom without you here. Are there other speakers like you?”_

_“I don’t know, but I assume it’s not common.”_

_“Good. I’m going to to boast to other snakes that I have my own human who feeds and take cares of me.”_

Hasu snorted. Shu was the only snake that he met, and he wondered if it was just Shu or that the snakes in general were haughty. His vanity was sometimes a pain in the ass to deal with, but he was a loyal friend that Hasu cherished just as much as he did Shi-baek and Qiang.

             _“You will have to be in a cage to go through the airport screening, but I will make sure that you feel comfortable,”_ Hasu petted Shu’s head.

             _“What’s to complain about when I get to stay with my human?”_ Shu licked Hasu’s hand and coiled around his wrist as if he tried to hug Hasu.

             Hasu smiled.


	6. Acquaintances and Enemies

 

             August in Japan swept by in a blink, and September came with magnificent autumn leaves adorning the roads. People bid farewell to the summer and resumed their busy lives. Students of Honshu Academy returned to the schools for the new semester once again, pumped up to learn new things.

 

Of course, Hasu wasn’t back in Honshu Academy.

 

On the same day that the school started, Hasu left the manor with his father to Tokyo airport. He decided to take him instead of the guards, which Motoe didn’t see why not. The flights to London were uneventful except for couple Japanese people who showed unbridled curiosity. He spent majority of the flights sleeping to avoid their annoying questions and terrible attempts to speak in English

 

And here he was, standing in a London Station with Hijashi. He had one luggage on his hand and a small cage that hid Shu inside on the other hand. Shu insisted that Hasu let him see outside, but Hasu argued that he had to wait until he was on the train alone.

 

“I was expecting an isolated place, not like this.” Hasu mused.

 

“They must have placed a strong attention-reducing spell,” Hijashi pulled out his hands, trying to feel the magic around. “I think they call it _notice-me-not_ charm in Europe?”

 

“Do you think we are too early? I don’t see many people here.”

 

Hasu recalled what he had read in _Hogwarts: A History_ during the summer. The book said that Hogwarts students literally ran to the wall between station nine and ten to enter the actual station numbered 9 and ¾. Right in the middle of freaking secular(or muggle?) Britain. Whose idea was it to make this station? Wouldn’t it be better to build it somewhere more secure?

 

Hasu was then distracted by loud conversations from a family a few meters away. They all had very conspicuous red hair and freckles, and had five kids: an elder son, twins, a younger boy and a younger sister. The same woman with kind face and plump figure that Hasu saw in Madam Malkin’s store was loudly talking to her children that he could hear every word she said.

 

“Dad, it’s that kid and his mom we saw in Diagon Alley,” Hasu poked Hijashi’s elbow.

 

“She and her husband must love each other _very much,_ hm?” Hijashi grinned.

 

“What?” Hasu frowned. Hijashi merely snickered.

 

 “Now, Ron listen very carefully.” The mother said to a younger redhead boy, “that boy is from a very, very far away Asian country, so he may not know much about England. Make sure you help him in the school whenever you can, and don’t let other kids take advantage of that poor boy.”

 

_Is she talking about me?_ Hasu raised his eyebrows and looked at Hijashi. Hijashi seemed attentive to the conversation as well and put Hasu behind him.  

 

“Alright, mom. I get it,” Ron snapped with an irritated tone.  “But what if he doesn’t get sorted to Gryffindor?”

 

“Just because you two may be in two different houses doesn’t mean that you can’t be friends, Ronald. Inter-house unity is just as important as house unity,” a tall boy primly stated.

 

“But what if he gets sorted into Slytherin?”

 

The mother didn’t answer immediately. She then carefully said, “maybe, maybe not. Professor said he was somewhat spoiled.”

 

“Sounds like a twat. I am not going to hang out with a slimy Slytherin git,” Ron grumbled.

 

“We will disown you if you-“ a twin boy with ‘F’ sweater joked.

 

“-associate with our enemies!” said another twin with ‘G’ sweater.

 

“Now boys, let’s not be judgmental,” Mr. Weasley quickly intervened, “we haven’t even met him personally, and you all assume he is going to be a bad person. Don’t forget Merlin was a Slytherin, and so was Professor Slughorn, me and Molly’s Potions professor…well, he was a little calculating and played favorites, but that’s not unique to Slytherins.”

 

“Exactly, every head of house favors their students.”

 

“Whatever, Percy. You complained just yesterday that Professor Snape is the worst,” Ron scoffed. Percy blushed a bit.  

 

 “Well, let’s find seats before everyone else floods in here. Fred, George, try to get in less troubles, okay?”

 

_Less troubles?_ Hasu raised his eyebrows amusedly.

 

“We will _try_ ” Fred grinned like a clown.

 

“-as much as possible,” said George.

 

Mr. and Mrs. Weasley resignedly sighed and watched their children push their carts to the wall between the platform 9 and 10.  One by one, they disappeared into the wall, and finally when it was Ron’s turn, they pushed the cart together and disappeared. No secular people around seemed to acknowledge the fact that a family of eight vanished into the wall.

 

“Lovely family, isn’t it?” Hijashi said as he stared at the magical wall.

 

“The parents are nice, but I am very positive that I won’t get along with Ron Weasley. I don’t think I will ever get into Gryffindor. I think I am better off living with Ravenclaws or maybe Slytherins,” Hasu shook his head.

 

“…You never know what life has in stores for us.” Hijashi muttered lowly. “Life _never_ goes according to your plan. That’s why it’s fun to live.”

 

“What?”

 

“Nothing!” Hijashi smiled innocently. “Before you leave, I have two gifts for you.”

 

Hijashi pulled out a small box from his pocket. It was a slick, black container that was small enough to keep a brooch inside, protected with a butterfly lock. Hijashi lightly flicked his finger on the lock, and the box opened.

 

It was a necklace with a small onyx carved into a sword. Hasu’s eyes widened in a recognition.

 

“This is a _Resshoujaha(lacerating snake)._ Mom would never let _anyone_ take this, even the big sister. How did you get it?”

 

“Don’t worry, she won’t know,” Hijashi winked. When Hasu still looked nervous, Hijashi consolingly patted his head, “dangers can lie in a place you expect the least. You should take it to protect yourself.”

 

“You say like something bad is going to happen,” Hasu licked his dry lips. He stuffed the necklace in his trouser pocket.

 

“You never know, Hasu,” Hijashi maintained his smile, “promise me that you will use it only in the worst situations. The sword has a rather strong…personality. Just like you.”

 

“Why not just an ordinary sword?”

 

“Only the best for my son!” Hijashi beamed.

 

“Spoiling him again? No wonder your wife gets mad you.”

 

Hasu turned around hearing a familiar voice. He smiled when he saw a young, tall male under a white hoodie. The man had eerie purple eyes and had a large white-naped raven perched on his right shoulder. He directly looked into Hasu’s eyes.

“ _Ojii-san,”_ Hasu bowed. Yuel nodded curtly.

 

“I am here to drop this off. Here,” he pulled a black stick from his hoodie pocket, “have fun playing with that thing. Made of raven talons, filled with feathers of a rare bird breed.”

 

 “You don’t know what the bird is?” Hasu frowned. He ran his finger over the wand’s smooth surface.

 

“I just asked someone I know to make whatever they can, and I forgot what bird it was,” Yuel picked his ears lazily. Hasu blankly stared at him, and Hijashi snickered.

 

“Uh…thank you.”

 

“You’re welcome. Have fun at school.”

 

“Bye, Oji-san.” Hasu waved at Yuel, but Yuel didn't look back and walked away from the station. This awkward, curt interaction with Yuel was quite ordinary for Hasu, so Hasu did not mind a bit. He understood that Yuel wasn't the most sociable person in the world.

 

“The train is going to depart soon,” Hijashi looked up the clock. It was ten forty, twenty minutes before the departure. “Try not to get in too many troubles, okay?”

 

“You know I don’t go for troubles, they find me,” Hasu snorted.

 

He tightly hugged his father and faced the wall. As soon as he pushed himself and trunks through the wall, the scene in front of him completely changed. There was an antique, coal train that made a loud engine noise waiting for students to get in. Skillfully sliding between the families in the stations, he quickly alighted on the train and sought for a room at the very end of the train in hopes of students not coming all the way down here. When he found one, he noticed that the the compartment was surprisingly big enough to fit in more than four people and ten pieces of luggage on the shelf.  He opened his trunk and placed Shu’s cage inside.

 

_“How long should I wait again?”_

_“I will take you out when we settle down in the dorm, okay?_ ” Hasu consoled the grumpy snake and closed the trunk. He put the trunk on the counter over his head.

 

Just as he was about to sit comfortably and listen to music with his Walkman, someone knocked on the door. Hasu sighed and turned off the music. It was Draco Malfoy with two other ugly, burly boys.

 

 “…Malfoy.” Hasu slid the door open greeted him. “I didn’t think you would come all the way down here.”

 

“I saw you going down this way,” Malfoy responded. He then started to introduce his companions, “This is Vincent Crabbe and Gregory Goyle. Crabbe, Goyle, this is Katakura Hasu, a new student from Japan. We met in Madam Malkin’s store last July.”

 

The two burly boys grunted in what Hasu assumed in greetings, which he returned with a politician’s smile. He inwardly questioned if these two boys were really Draco’s friends or just bodyguards trailing after a spoiled kid.

 

             “So, how was your summer in Japan?” Draco asked. The other two boys opened bags of candies and started to gorge in.  

 

             “It was okay.”

 

             “We spent the rest of summer in our vacation manor at Nimes, France.” Malfoy started to brag his luxurious summer experiences to Hasu’s dismay, “the weather was so much nicer than here. Sunny, not cloudy like Britain.”

 

             “Mhm.”

 

             “What did you do?”

 

             “Read some books for my new year in Hogwarts, hung out with my friends, nothing special.“

 

             “How did you fly all the way from Japan?”

 

             “Took a flight from Tokyo airport and landed in London airport.”

 

“What’s an airport?” Crabbe dumbly asked.

 

“It’s a place where people buy tickets to fly to other places. They sit in this large machine called an _airplane_. It can hold twenty to hundreds of people, depending on its size. Oh, and,” Hasu paused for a second for a dramatic effect, “it’s faster than broomsticks.”

 

“You are lying. Muggles can’t make something like that,” Malfoy immediately protested.

 

“How fast are broomsticks?” Hasu asked.

 

“100 miles per hour,” Malfoy confidently answered.

 

“A mile is, uh, about 1.6 kilometers. Average airplane is about 900 kilometers per hour, which is converted to…uh, more than 500 miles per hour! See? Airplanes beat broomsticks all day.”

 

“That can’t be!” Malfoy’s face reddened, and his jaw dropped.

 

“Yes, it can.” Hasu reveled in Malfoy’s shock. “I told you last July, secular technologies are fantastic.”

 

“But it’s not fair! They don’t even have magic!” Malfoy trembled with jealousy and denial. “Tell me you are joking. _It has to be!_ ”

 

“I am not joking, Malfoy,” Hasu shook his head and feigned a sad face, “do you also know that they have a system that allows them to instantly communicate? They don’t need owls or anything. The same system also allows them to access all kinds of information whenever they want. They don’t need to go to a large library and look through giant books all the time.”

 

“Can they send a chocolate frog instantly, too?” Goyle asked. His eyes were shining with hopes.

 

“No,” Hasu deadpanned, instantly squashing Goyle’s hopes. “And who cares about stupid chocolate frogs? What’s important is that technologies make things go so much faster.”

 

“Well, it’s not like you fly all the time! It’s not practical to use airplane to go to, say, Diagon Alley from my house!” Malfoy tried to regain composure.  

 

“You are right, but that’s what cars are for. And subways.”

 

“What are _those_ now?”

 

“Types of non-magical ground transportation? They can go as fast as broomsticks. You never heard of them before?” Hasu asked unbelievingly.

 

“Why should we? We wizards don’t need to learn something like technologies, we have magic to solve our problems,” Malfoy shrugged, and the other two boys nodded in agreement. 

 

“So…” Hasu licked his lips. “Do you know when India gained Independence from Great Britain?”

 

“India was part of England?” Malfoy dumbly asked.

 

“What about Russia-Japan war?”

 

“No.”

 

“Russia-Germany war?”

 

“No.”

 

“…Nazi occupation in France?” Hasu’s voice weakened more and more.

 

“No.”

 

“So, you don’t know _anything_ that happened between 1920s and 1950s muggle world?”    

 

“No. I told you we don’t need to.”

 

Hasu did his best to not roll his eyes or sigh, realizing that he shouldn’t have expected Malfoy, or any pureblood wizard, to know complicated secular history. It still stunned him that Malfoy didn’t even know about the Second World War, one of the most destructive and massive events especially because Britain was one of Allies. He just wanted to get out of this sphere of ignorance and stay alone.

 

But he had a work to do. A _very_ hard one, it seemed. 

 

“Never mind, it’s not important,” Hasu decided to lecture him later and focus on his goal. “Would you like to try my _Walkman?_ ”

 

“Is that the thing you used to listen music?” Malfoy examined it carefully on his hand. The rectangular, metallic device as big as his palm had an eighth-note symbol etched on the surface and four triangular buttons. He pressed one of the buttons, and the blue square hologram appeared over the surface. When he saw pop-ups written in a language that he didn’t understand, Hasu took the Walkman and quickly moved his fingers on the screen and gave the Walkman back in his hand. “Now it should be in English. Press the triangle button on the center.”

 

When Malfoy pressed it, a slow jazz tune filled the compartment. The hologram screen changed its color to a mix of pink, blue and violet and morphed into a ball like a lighting in a music club. “Woah,” Goyle stared at the ball, star-struck.

 

“This is like Wizzjazz,” Malfoy whistled. “What else can Walkman do?”

 

“You can make the music heard only in one person’s ears, play two different music for two people, record sound or display the lyrics if you install them in. Secular Japanese made this just a few years ago, and we adapted it into a magical version. My parents invested in a company that made this, and now it’s selling a lot. I heard that the company is looking to expand the market to foreign countries. “

 

“Like?”

 

“I don’t know, maybe…” Hasu said slowly, “maybe Britain? Somewhere Europe.”

 

_Ribbit._

 

“Who brought a frog into the train?” Malfoy frowned and looked around.

 

Hasu shook his head, and Crabbe and Goyle murmured in negatives. Hasu crouched to look under the seats. His green eyes soon found an ugly, greenish toad, and he grabbed it, making it ribbit even more loudly.

 

“Why on earth is there a toad?” Hasu frowned. “It’s really-”

 

“-Ugly,” Malfoy stared at it scornfully. “Some people have them for pets. I will never understand their unholy tastes.”

 

“Can you ride on them?”

 

“What? No, it’s just an ordinary toad.” Draco was flabbergasted by the question. “What, can you ride on them in Japan?”

 

“Some famous assassins in history are said to have ridden on magical toads. They were all magnificent, though, not unimpressive like this one” Hasu answered and poked the toad. It ribbited as if angry. Hasu was not sure if the toad was mad at being poked or his casual insult.

 

The compartment door slid open without a knock, startling and annoying the boys inside. There were a redheaded boy that Hasu saw earlier this morning (Ron, was it?)  and another chubby boy who looked permanently nervous.

 

“Hey, uhm…” The chubby kid tried to ask something, but his words quickly died in his mouth when he saw the dim, colorful lights emanating from the hologram sphere in the air. Ron, too, stared at the ball with his mouth open and blinked fast.

 

“Who brought Wizarding Wireless Network?”

 

“It’s not whatever you just called it, it’s called _Walkman,_ ” Hasu answered. He turned off the music, and the sphere dissipated into nothingness. “What can I help you with?”

 

“Have you seen Neville’s toad? He lost it a few minutes ago. That thing is bloody irritating.”

 

“Here. I found it under our seats.”

 

“Trevor!”  Neville’s face brightened in a relief. “Thanks! My gran would be furious at me if I lost him again.”

 

_Maybe that thing doesn’t like you,_ Hasu thought. The frog seemed very unhappy with this chubby boy, and perhaps it wanted to seek a freedom.

 

He sat back on his seat, wanting to take a nap, but realized the guests did not leave immediately. Ron was staring at him.

 

“Yes?”

 

“What is Walkman you just talked about?” Ron asked and pointed at Hasu’s Walkman in his hand.

 

“It’s a device that lets me listen to music wherever I want, whenever I want. I can put up to two hundred songs in here. A perfect way to kill your time,” Hasu curtly explained.

 

“Really? I have never heard of it,” Ron titled his sideways like he was thinking hard, “Fred and George would have talked about it if it was in Zonko’s Joke Shop-”

 

“It’s not from that dump of joke shop, it’s from a company named Sony in Japan,” Hasu cut off Ron. “Now, could you two please leave? I am tired, and I want to sleep until-”

 

“Japan?” Neville piped in, “where is that? I don’t think I’ve heard of country with that name near Germany or France. Oh, is it in Africa?”

 

“No, it’s not in Africa. That is the worst guess I ever thought someone would make. And who do you think you are, coming in here without knocks and not letting me sleep?”  

 

“Oh, pardon me!” Neville blushed with an embarrassment and offered his hand to Hasu, “I am Neville Longbottom. And this is my-”  

 

“Did you say Longbottom? Who’s your grandmother?” Malfoy cut Neville off and asked a mild interest. Hasu gave him a stink eye.

 

“Augusta Longbottom.”

 

“Ah, the member of Wizengamot? I see.”

 

“What, you know him Malfoy?” 

 

“My father works for the ministry-”

 

“Malfoy?” It was now Ron’s turn to interrupt. His face was pale, and his blue eyes contained revulsion and horror. “You mean your father is Lucius Malfoy?”

 

“Yes? Is there anything wrong with it?” Draco sneered at Ron with his grey eyes slowly scanning the red-haired boy from his head to toes. His eyes widened in a realization, “Oh, now I see. You must be Weasley, huh? My father said that Weasleys have red hair, freckles, and too many children than they can afford. I see that it is true, judging by your…” Malfoy glanced at Ron’s shirt that looked a little too big for him, “choice of _rags_.”

 

“My dad doesn’t kill halfbloods or muggleborns, or bribe people like your dad does! He didn’t lick _You-Know-Who’s feet_!” Ron’s face blushed madly and shouted. There were sounds of doors sliding open nearby, and couple students peeked their heads out to see the commotion.  Hasu, both irritated and confused, kept looking between Malfoy and Ron.

 

“Watch your mouth, Weasley. My father was a victim of Imperius Curse,” Malfoy coldly stared into Ron’s blue eyes. “Not only you are poor, but you also lack proper manners that all purebloods must have. No wonder your family doesn’t get any respect. You are embarrassing us British wizards in front of our guest from Japan.”

 

“Guest? What guest?”

 

“Him?” Draco indicated Hasu with his thumb. “He came from a faraway country, and you are making a fool out of yourself by shouting making false claims. You are misrepresenting this country. How crude.”

 

“It’s _Honshu_ Republic _,_ to be more accurate” Hasu corrected Malfoy.

 

“Right.”

 

“Wait, so you are that international student?” Neville asked, surprised.  “I heard my grandma talking about it with her friend. She said something about Professor Dumbledore hosting one this year. Where exactly is Japan?”

 

“ _Honshu_ Republic!”

 

“Sorry, where is…uh…Hawn-shoo Republic?” Neville scratched his head, embarrassed that he got yelled at in front of four other people.

 

“It’s on the other side of the Earth. Get a globe, and you will see.” Hasu didn’t even look at Neville and rested his chin on his hand. “Now, _please_ leave. I am done answering your questions – _why are you grabbing my arm?_ ”

 

“You shouldn’t hang out with these gits,” Ron pulled Hasu’s right arm in attempt to drag him out of his seat. “This Malfoy git says that we are embarrassing our country, but he’s the one, uh, misrepresenting us. Slytherins want to kill muggles and half-bloods, and I’m pretty sure that git will be a Slytherin, too!”

“Who I socialize with is my problem, thank you,” Hasu yanked his arm off from Ron’s grab. “And don’t touch me like that. I am not your sibling or a dog. How rude.”  

 

“Fine! Clearly you are a git, just like him!” Ron snapped and pointed finger at Malfoy.

 

“Whatever,” Hasu snorted. He wished Ron’s mother were here right now and slapped this idiot to death.

 

“Let’s just go Ron,” Neville shook Ron’s shoulder once more when Ron was about to hurl another insult.  “Sorry for bothering with my toad. I appreciate you help.”

 

Hasu didn’t say anything as Neville and Ron closed the door and returned to their compartment. He sighed and plopped back into his seat while Malfoy was still displeased from Ron’s insults. Crabbe and Goyle contently resumed eating their forth chocolate frogs.

 

“They got some nerves, huh?” Draco smirked.

 

Hasu just stared at the windows without a response.

* * *

 

 

_Great Hall_

 

Hasu already started to dislike the school.

 

The castle looked so medieval to him. He had seen the school’s photo from _Hogwarts’ History_ , and he noticed that absolutely nothing had changed over centuries. Weren’t there any designers in Britain? They sure need some architecture specialists! Honshu Academy maintained its basic traditional designs, but they renovated the buildings little by little over the time to implement the contemporary designs. It helped both preserve the traditional Japanese design and reflect modern styles. Hogwarts, however, was archaic.

 

Hasu was sitting right next to Draco, seeing an old woman calling names to an ugly hat with mouth and eyes. It sat on the students’ heads, and loudly declared where each new student would go. Then, the table of each house would roar in welcome.

 

_“Longbottom, Neville!”_ The nervous boy was called for the sorting. After more than five minutes-which was quite longer than others-the hat declared, “Gryffindor!” Neville, who seemed to want to be done with it as soon as possible, ran to Gryffindor table with the hat on, making the entire student body laugh at him. He ran back to almost laughing Professor McGonagall to return the hat and joined other Gryffindors.

 

“You are up next, Katakura,” Draco whispered excitedly. “I hope you come to Slytherin with me.”

 

“If that hat lets me,” Hasu whispered back. 

 

“Malfoy, Draco!” McGonagall shouted. Draco and Hasu blinked in confusion, but the blonde kid went up to the sorting hat regardless. The hat shouted “Slytherin!” even before it sat on his head. The Slytherin table roared in cheer. Draco gave the hat back to McGongall but didn’t leave.

 

“Mr. Malfoy? Is there a problem?” The old witch asked.

 

“I think you forgot someone, Professor,” Malfoy glanced at Hasu who was still sitting among unsorted first year students.

 

“Who?” McGonagall blanked asked, then a realization dawned on her. “Oh. that’s right. I thought I corrected the roster, but it seems I did not. I apologize. Mhm.” She cleared her throat, then called Hasu’s name with the best pronunciation she could pull off, “Katakura,Hasu!”

 

“Who?” one of the older student eloquently asked.

 

Hasu walked to the stool, ignoring every pair of eyes watching him with intense interests. McGonagall placed the hat on Hasu’s head. Draco waved from Slytherin table.    


“Hello, young man,” a gruff voice ran in Hasu’s head. “You sure have an interesting life all the way in Japan!”

 

“Hi,” Hasu replied curtly, realizing that the hat could read his thoughts. “I am not going to be here forever, so please don’t bother. Roll the dice and put me in whatever place you want.”

 

“You don’t care where you go? Tut, tut,” the hat tutted in a disapproval. “I am afraid I can’t do that. Exchange student or not, I should consider the best option for you. Hmm…you are smart. You are willing to fight back those who insult you. Oh my, those children are just as bad as some pureblood wizards, aren’t they?”

 

“Please stop invading my privacy,” Hasu mentally commanded.

 

“And you are materialistic,” the Hat ignored Hasu’s order and went on, “definitely Slytherin. But that’s only because you have these voids inside you. My boy, wealth can never satisfy the hollowness inside you.”

 

“Whatever,” Hasu muttered. McGonagall frowned at his grumpy words. He then said, “just put me in somewhere quiet. Somewhere I can peacefully go on with my life. Definitely not with that redhead.”

 

“Are you sure?” Hat snickered. “Well, I still have to consider your capabilities. You are smart and love learning forbidden knowledge. Isn’t that why you sneak into your parents’ library? But not entirely bookworm. You can be kind and generous, but only to very few people. You can be brave, but not if it’s completely wasteful. You are ambitious enough to make yourself known to people not for your last name, but for who you are. That leaves Slytherin and Ravenclaw as good houses to go.”

 

“Ravenclaw sounds nice. The house that values wisdom and knowledge, perfect. I don’t have to be in a same house to be close with Malfoy, I think. Also, I don’t want to be around racists.”

 

“Oh, my boy…” The Hat sighed, “blood supremacists are in every house, even in Gryffindor. Just in different ways. Some Gryffindor, like the founder Godric Gryffindor himself, thought they needed to protect muggles because they were inferior to wizards. I am sure you know what that means, don’t you? Superior races feeling _obligated_ to protect ‘inferior’ races because they think it’s ‘moral’ thing to do.”

 

“Well, they probably don’t call for racial cleansing or Holocaust,” Hasu muttered.

 

“True, but this imaginary moral _burden_ of ruling other races is also dangerous because it can cause a racial dominance where subordinates _agree_ to be ruled. That’s called _hegemony_ , did you know that? It is even worse than an outright suppression because it can remove any chance of achieving an equality when the subordinates don’t want to help themselves.”

 

“You sound way smarter than other wizards here,” Hasu smiled, impressed at The Hat’s eloquence.

 

“I have lived a very long time since the school was built!” Hat laughed in Hasu’s head. It felt like a bell sounds ringing pleasantly.

 

“I understand your points, but I still want to go to Ravenclaw. I have already lived with mini politicians all my life in school, and I don’t want to do that here. I don’t plan to be involved in a foreign politics,” Hasu spoke with a resolution.

 

“Alright, alright,” The Hat giggled, “Well then, here it goes. You are going to-“

 

“Ravenclaw?”

 

“SLYTHERIN!”

 

             As soon as the Hat declared, the Slytherin table clapped and roared. Hasu’s face went slack with a shock that the Hat pulled a fast on him. He slowly stood up, took The Hat off of his head, and quietly whispered with as much malice he could contain as possible.  

 

_“You are a cunt, Mr. Hat”_

 

             McGonagall seemed confused at Hasu’s quiet but aggressive profanity that she could not understand, but The Hat seemed to understand the insult and merely responded with a satisfied smirk. Hasu gave the Hat back to McGonagall and walked to the Slytherin Table where Malfoy was madly waving his hands. He quickly looked behind at the faculty table and noticed that all the professors looked as if somebody hit them with a big, searing wok and gave an extra slap of a hot laddle. Severus Snape especially seemed almost catatonic. Hasu simply shrugged and joined Malfoy on the table.

 

“Good job coming to the right place,” Malfoy patted Hasu’s back.

 

“Mhm,” Hasu noncommittally responded.  

 

“Draco, do you know him?” A girl with a platinum blond hair asked..

 

“He is our foreign exchange student from Japan that I met in Diagon Alley. We should welcome him so that he can settle down here comfortably.” Malfoy’s voice was more or less commanding, making Hasu wonder if he was some sort of leader amongst his friends. He then whispered, “I will introduce you to my friends when the sorting is all over.”

 

Hasu quietly nodded and paid attention to the rest of the sorting. By the time the Hat finished the sorting, two girls and two boys joined Slytherin table and sat near Malfoy and Hasu.

 

“Hasu,” Malfoy assumed a patron-like voice, “these are my friends that I have known since we were kids. From left to right, Pansy Parkinson,”

 

“Hi.”

 

“-Theodore Nott,”

 

A blonde boy curtly nodded.

 

“-Blaise Zabini,”

 

A dark-skinned, smug boy reached out to shake hands with Hasu. Hasu lightly shook his hand but wondered what he was so smug about.

 

“-and Daphne Greengrass, whom you talked to a few minutes ago.”

 

“Welcome to Britain,” Greengrass greeted in a courteous tone that Hasu knew so well was groomed to a perfection.

 

“So, where is this Japan?” Nott asked.

 

“On the other side the Earth-“

 

“Students and esteemed faculty members,” Headmaster Dumbledore’s voice boomed in Great Hall, cutting Hasu’s voice, “before we start our annual anthem and the welcome feast, I would like to make a very important announcement about a very special student this year.”

 

_Kami-sama,_ Hasu inwardly sighed.

 

“I would like you all to welcome our foreign exchange student, Hasu Katakura, who has come all the way from Japan, a nation that houses one of the oldest magical school, _Honshu Academy_!” Dumbledore cheerfully continued, oblivious to Hasu’s agony. Every pair of eye, including Ron Weasley’s hostile blue eyes, was now on him. “Honshu Academy has a very rich history of magical education, and Mr. Katakura has attended the school since the age of seven. I hope you learn a lot from him and ensure that he feels welcome and comfortable here.”

 

_And here come obligatory claps_.

 

The hall filled with deafening rounds of claps. Slytherin and Ravenclaw students clapped vigorously while Hufflepuff and Gryffindors – some even glared at him – were less enthusiastic in their welcome.  Hasu looked around the crowd and put up a well-auditioned thin smile.

 

His eyes wandered over Ravenclaw table and widened when they saw another Asian girl. She had silky black hair tied to two ponytails and freckled nose, and she looked older than him, but not as old as his siblings. She looked confused beyond belief and didn’t look away when Hasu looked right at her. He wondered if the girl was a foreign student like him or a regular student whose parents immigrated to Britain. He thinly smirked and looked away, thinking that she must have been bewildered as hell to see a Caucasian Japanese.

 

Then he remembered –

 

_“_ _…my cousin whom I have never met goes there, and she is one year older than I.”_

 

Could that girl be Qiang’s cousin?

 

             Hasu decided to look into it later then surveyed the faculty table to get better looks of the professors. He remembered the Headmaster Dumbledore, Professor Flitwick, McGonagall and the greasy hair Snape, but he didn’t recognize the other five professors. Every one of them was dressed in robes contrary to Honshu Academy teachers who typically wore casual business attire. They also wore stereotypical wizard hats, and it looked really absurd to Hasu. His eyes met headmaster’s who smiled with twinkling eyes. Hasu plastered a polite smile but dropped it as soon as Dumbledore averted his attention to the sorting.

 

 And when he saw a professor with a turban-

 

             “ _Ita!_ ” Hasu gasped in pain and touched his scar. 

 

             “What?” Draco stopped clapping and asked.

 

             “....Nothing,” Hasu massaged his lightening behind his front hair stung him sharply.

 

             “Well, clearly there is _something_ if you are rubbing whatever it is behind your hair,” Malfoy tried to look at the scar, but Hasu didn’t let him. “Come on, let me see it.”

 

             “It’s nothing, okay?” Hasu shook his head so that his hair softly fell over his scar.


	7. One more enemy, one more friend...?

 "What's his problem with you?" 

Malfoy whispered to Hasu while chopping ingredients for the boil cure potion. They were paired up in the first Gryffindor-Slytherin double potion class and kept glancing at the dour potion master. Professor Snape had started the class by throwing random questions to a few Gryffindor students, and when they couldn’t, he turned to Hasu and demanded to answer them. Malfoy had told Hasu last night that Snape hugely favored his own house, so when Snape didn’t aware any points for Hasu’s correct answers, it raised many Slytherin students’ eyebrows.

 

“For whatever reason, he didn’t like me from the start. He acts like I killed his wife or something,” Hasu muttered under his breath. He stopped Malfoy from putting snake fangs and said, “wait, I know better way to do it.”

 

“But the books says-“

 

“I have been learning magic for three more years than you. Trust me.”

 

“But Professor Snape might get-“

 

“Who cares, Malfoy? As long as you get the job done, he won’t complain.”

 

 Malfoy’s eyebrows twitched, but he let Hasu take over. Instead of putting the horned slugs after the snake fangs powder like the textbook instructed, Hasu mashed the slugs and let the powders soak the disgusting slug mash. He had made a very similar potion two years ago as a final exam in Honshu Academy, so he decided to choose a faster way that he had learned in the class.

 

“We will get a zero in the assignment!” Malfoy whispered frantically.

 

But Hasu ignored his partner. He raised his hand over the cauldron started to make some hand movements but realizing that no one knew that he could use magic without a wand, he stopped. He then pulled out his new wand and carefully swished it over the cauldron, hoping that it would work as he intended.

 

The mix in the cauldron immediately boiled vigorously then completely cooled down. Hasu whistled quietly at his success and put his wand away. It was certainly easier to focus his force on the tip of wand then using a bare hand. The potion was now three fourth done and only needed one last step. Hasu then added the porcupine quills and stirred the cauldron counterclockwise five times. The potion promptly turned to bright pink and fumed with pink smoke.

 

“Done,” Hasu smirked.

“How did you do it?!”

 

Malfoy, who was resting his chin on his hand and watching his partner’s mysterious works, gaped like a goldfish.

 

             “Secret Japanese trick,” Hasu snickered.

 

“Mr. Katakura,” Snape, who had just finished berating poor Longbottom for putting too much powder, loomed over Hasu, “what do you think you are doing?”

 

“I finished the potion, sir,” Hasu didn’t flinch from the steely black eyes.

 

Snape stared at Hasu hard for a few seconds then looked at the duo’s cauldron. His eyes slightly widened in a surprise. The potion should have taken at least half an hour to brew it, but it barely passed fifteen minutes. He took a sample of potion with a skepticism and waved his wand over the sample vial. He blinked a few times in a mild impressiveness.

 

“Have you made this before?”

 

“No, but I had to brew a skin rash relief cream two years ago for my final exam, sir,” Hasu confidently answered. Having read about the boil cure potion before the class, he knew that the potion had no flaws, and he was sure that Snape couldn’t find any fault in the potion. He could hear the other students murmuring in awe. He could see a bushy-haired Gryffindor girl enviously glaring at him from the corner of his eyes and had to resist smiling.

 

Snape, however, was not happy at all.

 

“Next time you want to disregard the textbook procedures, you will report to me first, Mr. Katakura,” Snape swished his wand to pour the potion into a few more vials. He then peered into Hasu’s confused green eyes, “I expect you to follow the rules in Hogwarts, not those of your hometown school. Just because you have more experience doesn’t mean you can disrespect the book and your teacher.”

 

“I didn’t mean to disrespect-“

 

“You will have an extra homework of describing the alternative methods you used to make this potion, in addition to the regular homework of describing the other uses of snake fangs and slugs in potion,” Snape talked over Hasu’s protests, “you may turn in your vials and leave, Mr. Katakura and Mr. Malfoy.”  

Snape then strode back to his desk with his dramatically moving cape( _God, Hasu hated that cape)._ Haus unbelievingly looked at the man with an utter confusion, but Malfoy lightly elbowed him. Despite his urge to argue with Snape, he knew that Snape was neither the first and the last authoritarian prick he would see in his life, so he decided to be wise and started to pack his bags. When he left the classroom with Malfoy, the latter was confused as well.

“I have never thought that Snape would _not_ award any point to Slytherin,” Malfoy furrowed his eyebrows. They headed to the Great Hall for the early lunch. Malfoy sat down in Slytherin seats and grabbed two biscuits, and Hasu poured himself a glass of milk. The table had only a couple seventh graders and older students who left the class a little early.

 

             “That was bloody awesome, though,” Malfoy nibbled the biscuits and took some bacons. “Did you see Granger giving you dirty looks? She looked ready to murder you.”

 

             “Like she is better than any of us? No wonder that her roommates don’t like her,” Hasu snorted and shook his head.

 

             It was the first day of the class that Hasu learned bits and pieces about the first years in the other houses. He was on the way back from taking care of Shu whom he had successfully hidden in Forbidden Forrest at the night of the arrival.  Shu was excited to tell Hasu that he spent the night exploring the forest and had a pleasure of seeing many interesting creatures, mostly horses with horns, horses with half- human bodies, and skeletal horses with wings. Then there were huge, huge spiders that ran away when they saw him, and Shu was both amused and confused at their reactions. He then complained that he didn’t find any snakes to befriend or enough rats to eat. Hasu promised to bring some food later and went back inside the school.

 

             His plan had been to do homework with Malfoy and Zabini whom he told to wait in the library, but he somehow was cornered by curious students. Two Ravenclaw kids named Anthony and Terry were eager to ask questions like what language he used at home, why he started school so early, or why he came to Hogwarts. Hasu was both annoyed and pleased that they popped out of nowhere and wanted to know about his country, so he solved their curiosities with the best efforts.

 

             Then, the conversation drifted to talking about other new students, including Padma Patil, a twin to Gryffindor Parvatil Patil, who was a roommate to an annoying girl named Hermione Granger. Terry explained that Gryffindors including Patil Sisters already disliked her because the ‘know-it-all’ girl was always on her high horse and talked over other students. Anthony then laughed and warned Hasu to be careful because according to Patil Sisters, Granger already targeted Hasu as her rival and was dead set on beating him in every subject. Hasu thought it was hilarious that he already made an enemy without even intending it and dismissed the concern. The two Ravenclaw boys left him after suggesting to meet again to learn more about Japan.

 

             “She will _never_ get any points in potions anyway,” Malfoy turned around to see the Gryffindor Table. It was now half full of the students, but the first year students were yet to get out of the potion class. “I know that his hatred against Gryffindor is far greater than his dislike against you. He really hates Gryffindor, that’s what my father told me.”

             “Why does he hate Gryffindors anyway?”

 

             “I don’t know. Doesn’t matter much to me, Gryffindors are stupid anyway. But I don’t know why he dislikes -”

 

             “Hello.”

 

             A quiet, female voice came behind. Hasu and Malfoy turnd their head arounds. It was the girl that Hasu saw during the welcoming feast.  “My name is Cho Chang, and I am a Ravenclaw second year. Terry and Anthony told me about you. I was really surprised to know that you were from Japan of all places.”

 

             “Yes, yes. What’s the chance of seeing a white kid growing up in Asian country?” Hasu rolled his eyes. He fully expected her to ask him such question at some point. Plenty of people had asked the same question in the past, but it never failed to annoy him. “What do you want? Just because you are one year older than me doesn’t mean I will immediately respect you.”  

 

             Cho looked taken aback by Hasu’s hostile behavior, and Malfoy was just as confused. However, he quickly recovered her calm demeanor and said, “no, of course not. It’s true that I didn’t expect a white kid to grow up in Japan, but I was more surprised because someone from that faraway country came here at all.”

 

             “My parents thought I could use some study abroad experiences. Where are you from?”

 

             “I was born here,” Cho answered. When Hasu didn’t say anything, she understood the question and continued, “oh, my heritage. My mom’s grandparents moved to Britain from China, and they were muggles. My mom was born a witch and attended the school here. She then married my dad, who is a muggle. Yes, I am a half-blood, and I have no problem with it,” she emphasized the last sentence as she glanced at Malfoy’s contemptuous expression.

            

             “I don’t know what blood status I am,” Hasu lied. He did know that he was a half-blood, but saying he knew it would be strange as he had to act like he didn’t know his birth parents, “and I don’t care. I _shouldn’_ t care, and others shouldn’t either. We don’t even have such classification in Japan.”

 

             “That sounds wonderful!” Cho smiled.

 

              “Yeah, it is,” Hasu agreed unenthusiastically. Cho caught on a fleeting look of frustration on his face. She seemed to want to say something but instead started asking other questions.

 

             “You know, neither my parents nor I have been to China or any Asian countries. Perhaps you could tell me about how magical Japan is?”

            

             “It’s Honshu Republic, and China and Japan aren’t exactly same,” said Hasu. He was, however, intrigued.

 

             “But they have common cultural ground...I think,” Cho hesitated, “I admit that I don’t know much about muggle or magical China. My dad is busy, and my mom doesn’t know much about her country either. Perhaps you could help me.”

 

             Hasu blinked in a surprise. He was told often that Chinese people, both wizards and Seculars, were very proud of their heritages, so Cho’s lack of knowledge was unexpected to Hasu. It was strange that his father didn’t invest time to educate her of rich Chinese culture – no matter how busy he could be – or his grandparents who were not wizards. They may have emigrated to foreign country, but that didn’t mean they could altogether abandon their culture-

 

             _Funny how_ I _am yet to learn my own heritage_.

 

Hasu resisted from laughing at his own contradiction. He didn’t want to disrespect the girl who genuinely wanted to connect to her culture. He was like her, in a way.

 

             “Sure.”

 

             “Really?” Cho happily smiled.

 

             “We don’t have same classes at all, but I think we can figure out times.”

 

             “I am free for two hours after every Tuesday and Thursday lunch, and after six.”

 

             “I think I am free for an hour after Thursday lunch and after every six, too.” Hasu read his schedule. He had more free times than that, but he wanted to reserve some for his own recess. “Maybe we can meet every Friday? After six? Anthony and Terry wanted to meet me anyway, maybe you can ask them.”

 

             “Sure!” Cho clapped her hands excitedly. “Thank you, Hasu! Do you think I could bring some other housemates? We always want to learn new stuff.”

 

             “I don’t like bunch of kids cluttering around, so try to keep it to two people,” Hasu curtly said. “Also, preferably not chatty ones. I hate people who talk nonstop.”

 

             “Don’t worry about it. I see you later!” Cho smiled and trotted back to her table. He saw her chatting with her friends, presumably about meeting him to learn her culture. They all seemed to be quite interested and looked at Hasu. He then turned back to his plate and started to pick scones and orange juice.

 

             “You are awfully quiet, Malfoy.” Hasu bit off a scone.

 

             “What?”

 

             “I said, you haven’t said a word during our discussion. Are you mad because I said the blood status isn’t important?” Hasu’s voice was not confrontational, but he deliberately kept his eyes at his food.

 

             “If that’s what you were taught in Japan, that’s fine,” Malfoy also kept his eyes at his plate that had scrambled eggs and bacon strips, “but don’t say it out loud in front of Slytherins or even other kids in Ravenclaws. You don’t want to get bad reputation in your own house.”

 

             “If they harm me, there will be one hell of lawsuits,” Hasu paused then added, “and a lot of injuries.”

 

Malfoy did not say anything. It would be incredibly foolish to harm an important foreign family. It would be an international catastrophe, and a high-profile figure like Dumbledore would be pecked to death. The thought of Dumbledore being a political outcast thrilled him for a moment, but an entire nation losing its credibility and respect far outweighed the “positives”.

 

He still didn’t fully understand why his mother wanted him to keep Katakura close to him, but based on his family history, his parents perhaps thought this might be an interesting opportunity to spread their influence beyond Europe.  It was a common knowledge that Malfoys were the second most influential people in Britain and always sought for more power, but very few knew that they also meddled in other countries. Old purebloods were respected everywhere regardless their nationalities, and they conspired together or against each other for their own benefits. But they all had one common goal: purebloods above all. It made the little Malfoy immensely proud that he was born into Malfoys, and he couldn’t wait to be old enough to take after his father’s job and be as important as him. All the wealth, political ties, advantageous marriages…all he had to do was wait.

 

 

Though Malfoy didn’t know the specifics, if his parents really planned to use Katakura as a bridge to let themselves known to Asia, that meant that it was up to him to learn more about the other. He had to know what Katakura could do, what he liked, what he valued…he had to know everything.

 

But the conversation between Katakura and Chang worried him. Malfoy couldn’t care less about the girl, but Katakura seemed to be expressly against the superior blood purity. Malfoy sternly stood by the purism, but he wasn’t adamant enough to ignore the fact that there were Slytherin half-bloods like Professor Snape, Tracy Davis or Millicent Bulstrode, and it was Slytherin’s motto to protect their own comrades even if they were not purebloods. Calling out Slytherin’s blood purism, however, could easily turn everyone against Katakura.  Was Japan against the blood purism?

 

It also bothered him that Katakura randomly mentioned his skin color-

 

“She’s so annoying!” Pansy’s loud voice broke Malfoy’s contemplation and made him look up to see his other friends sitting on the table. “Acting like she knows everything, then has a nerve to say that Katakura cheated. I wouldn’t hang out with her even if she was in Slytherin.”

 

“Hey, Katakura, Malfoy,” Blaise waved at Malfoy and Hasu. The two boys nodded back.

 

“What is she talking about?”

 

“You know Granger, that bushy haired muggleborn in Gryffindor?”

 

“The one that gave me evil eyes?” Hasu said dismissively.

 

“Yeah, she thinks you cheated because you didn’t do as the book said.”

 

“Well, who cares what she thinks? No one,” Hasu sneered. “I would rather marry a textbook with a face drawing than her if she was the last woman in the universe. Books don’t talk for twenty-four hours about something I never asked or act like unlikeable loners who never had friends and probably will never in their whole lives. I am not a fan of bullying, but some people are just too… undesirable.”

 

“Ooh, harsh,” Parkinson feigned a shock. She giggled and whispered, “I heard some Ravenclaws complaining that she talks too much in Transfiguration class, too.  If Ravenclaws hate her, that’s a big problem.”

 

“And to think that she can beat me,” Hasu pointed himself with his thumb, “who has three years of experience.”

 

“You know, you could help us with your, uh…advanced Japanese potion skills,” Theodore Nott cautiously suggested.

 

 “Don’t you mean me doing your homework in the name of _helping?_ ” Hasu crossed his arms and titled his head. Nott shook his head.

 

 “Fine. I am planning to meet a few Ravenclaw kids this Thursday evening. You can come if you want,” Hasu clasped his fingers.

 

“You already arranged to meet someone that’s not in our house?” Nott frowned.

 

“The Chinese girl named Cho Chang came to me first,” Hasu shrugged, “she wanted to know more about her heritage, so I had to be a nice person and educate her. I don’t know if you like history, but-“

 

“I will go, too.” Malfoy boldly interrupted. He couldn’t miss out a perfect opportunity to spy on the other. He also couldn’t be outcompeted by others who were interested in Katakura, especially Nott, who was more proactive than he usually was for some reasons.

 

“Mind if I join, as well?” Greengrass asked.  

 

“Sure, sure. Just promise me to not talk too much, and you are all welcome to join.” Hasu off-handedly accepted the request and chugged his milk. He picked some scones and sandwiches and wrapped them with napkins. “See you guys later, I am -”

\- _feeding my hungry snake._

“- taking a stroll outside. Don’t come after me, bye.”

 

Hasu then left the Great Hall hurriedly. Greengrass stared at where Hasu was just sitting with a confused face. She asked, “do you think that’s how most Japanese people behave?”

 

“For some reason, I think Katakura is an anomaly,” Blaise drawled. “But I like him. He has some good tastes…a bit abrasive and rude, but if he can make Gryffindors hate him so fast, I would gladly enjoy it.”

 

“Weasley already hates him,” Malfoy grinned, “long story short, Weasley tried to _protect_ Katakura from us evil Slytherins but failed. He tried to _drag_ him out of the compartment, isn’t it so crass?”

 

“He’s a _Weasley,_ what do you expect?” Parkinson snickered maliciously.  The joyful Gryffindor bashing continued on until the end of lunch.


	8. Creeping Darknes

“ _Shu.”_

Hasu quietly hissed the snake’s name into the woods. He was standing nearby a small hut where Hagrid the gamekeeper lived. He had to make sure that the half-giant was not anywhere near the hut so that he wouldn’t get caught talking to the snake. He wasn’t sure if it was a taboo to talk to a snake in Britain, but he supposed that it would freak out others a lot. He also heard that Hagrid wasn’t very kind to Slytherins, which was another reason to avoid the man.

 _“Shu,”_ Hasu called the snake again when he didn’t hear the answer.

 _“About the time,”_ a grumpy but expectant response came. The rat snake came out of the woods with his tongue flicking with an excitement, _“what did you bring today?”_

 _“Some scones and sandwiches._ ”

“ _The food here has too much flour,_ ” Shu hissed in a disappointment.

 _“It would look strange if I brought bunch of ham slices,”_ Hasu didn’t retort to the snake’s complaint this time. He knew that too much grain food wasn’t good for reptiles and could even make them sick, but he didn’t want anyone to be suspicious of him. He supposed that he needed to learn a spell that summoned rats or small insects for Shu’s health. “Tell me, anything interesting happening?”

_“I saw that mutated human feeding some animals,” Shu responded with bits of scones in his small mouth, “and a stranger killing a unicorn in the woods.”_

_“Who did what?” Hasu doubted what he just heard._

_“I saw a man kill a unicorn,” Shu repeated after swallowing the scones bits, “he shot a green light from a funny looking stick and slit its neck. Did you know that unicorn’s blood is silver? Very interesting, isn’t it?” Shu seemed much more interested in the unicorn’s blood color than the fact that somebody killed the unicorn._

_“No, I didn’t know. That’s quite interesting. But do you know who it was?”_ Hasu’s face paled. He quietly asked and quickly turned around to see if anyone was coming toward him.

 _“No, but maybe he is one of your teachers. Why are you so worried?”_ Shu titled his head.

_“Shu, you just don’t kill a unicorn for some classwork. It’s one of the most revered creatures. Did he see you by any chance?” Hasu felt a jolt running over his spine. He had learned in his second year that unicorns symbolized a purity and magic itself, and an act of killing unicorns was said to be a great sin and a curse. It was a transgression to the magic itself, and only the dastardliest and most unsympathetic brutes would so something so unsavory._

_“No, I stayed far enough to see him well but not get caught,”_ said Shu. _“and the human who killed it smelled funny. It’s like there were two people in one body.”_

 _“Two people in one body? How is that possible?”_ Hasu was now confused.

 _“I am just saying what I saw, heard and smelt,”_ Shu entwined himself around Hasu’s right ankle, _“the weird human killed the unicorn and drank the blood from its neck. Do you have an_ oni _teacher?”_

 _“Shu, we are in Britain, not Japan. There is no blood sucking_ oni _,”_ Hasu cringed at the mental image of someone sucking blood off the unicorn’s neck. Hogwarts boasted its powerful protective ward that spread throughout Forbidden woods, and it shouldn’t have allowed any criminals inside. He read news about _yokai_ poachers who attempted to break into a protected yokai residential forest in Japan and, they were all sentenced to decades of imprisonment. Unless British wizards were incredibly depraved, there was no way that it would be acceptable to kill something like unicorns.

_Or there might be somebody that posed as a harmless wizard and infiltrated the school._

For a second, Hasu considered reporting the incident to the headmaster, but he quickly discarded the idea. He couldn’t just tell him that his pet snake witnessed the murder of the unicorn, and he wasn’t confident enough to lie about being a witness to it, which would imply that he was in the forest. He didn’t want to get entangled too much in this when he was “assigned” to acquaint Malfoys to expand Japanese business to Europe. It was such a silly idea if one really thought about it.

 _I can write an anonymous letter to the ministry. They will investigate it, then._ Hasu reached a satisfying decision. That way, the authorities would apprehend the intruder without going through an extra bureaucratic process of the school notifying the ministry. If that didn’t work, well, that wasn’t his business as long as he wasn’t hurt.

But now, he was worried about Shu. Shu didn’t have any special power to protect himself, and Hasu was unsure whether the intrude would come back and kill another unicorn. He didn’t want to leave his friend around a dangerous lunatic who clearly disregarded the taboo of killing a precious magical creature.

_“I can try to find you a safe place, Shu. I can’t leave you here.”_

_“But this is so comfortable here,”_ Shu refused, _“there aren’t as many rats as I thought, but I like the smell of his forest.”_

_“What if he sees and tries to kill you?”_

_“I can just stay hidden in a bush. There are a lot of nice hiding spots here,”_ Shu insisted.

“ _Are you sure?_ ”

 _“Of course I am. A hunter like me doesn’t die to a weirdo like that human,”_ Shu declared haughtily.

 _“Alright then,”_ Hasu smiled with a tinge of worry, “ _but if you feel unsafe, you should tell me.”_

 _“Worry about yourself. It looks like you have a lunatic among you,”_ Shu slithered over Hasu’s shoulder and flicked his tongue on his face. Hasu affectionately petted Shu’s head and put him down on the mossy ground. Then, a bell rang from the bell tower to mark the end of the lunch period.

“ _I will see you tomorrow_ ,” Shu hissed and disappeared into the woods. Hasu stood there until Shu was gone deep into the forest. He hoped nothing bad would happen to his friend and started walking back to the castle. He planned to brainstorm what he would do for the upcoming gathering.

* * *

 

“Mr. Katakura. Headmaster Dumbledore would like to see you now,” Snape pulled him aside and said after Hasu just entered Slytherin common room. The dour man reeked of potion and grease stench from his oily hair, and it took every patience from Hasu to not pinch his nose, “I would normally escort my student, but I am busy with supervising a few students’ detention. Be there as soon as possible. The password is _pumpkin pie_ ,” Snape then left without checking if Hasu had any question.

 _I guess he is still pissed about not following the book instructions,_ Hasu rolled his eyes and scoffed. He remembered where the Headmaster’s office was, so he sauntered his way out of the dungeon. He knew that Snape wanted him to be there as soon as possible, but he wasn’t there to supervise him, was he? Hasu had no intention to please the immature adult.

 _“_ Pumpkin pie.”

He spoke the passwords as he easily located the Headmaster’s office. The gargoyles moved aside and showed the door to him. Hasu entered the office, and Dumbledore looked up from the papers that he was busy signing. “Hello, Mr. Katakura.”

“Hello, Professor.” Hasu politely bowed.

“Would you like some tea?” Dumbledore waved his wands, and two tea cups and one porcelain teapot appeared on the table. A small sugar container and a cream jar appeared as well. 

“No, thanks. Headmaster.”

“People should enjoy more tea. It’s good for clearing your thoughts.”

 _Not if you don’t stop pouring that sugar!_ Hasu thought. He had to resist gagging when Dumbledore put a whooping tablespoon of sugar in his tea. Dumbledore sipped his tea, oblivious to Hasu’s disgust.

“I know it is a significant change for you to come to Hogwarts, Mr. Katakura,” his bright blue eyes looked at Hasu over his teacup. “How do you like the school so far?”

Hasu wanted to say how he was bored of out of his mind, and he would never come to this terrible nowhere if it weren’t for his heritage, but he remembered his parents’ urge to be respectful and said, “it has been alright, professor.” 

“Have the students and teachers treated you appropriately?”  

“Yes.” _Except my own damn head of the house._

“Made any friends?”

Hasu thought a bit and shrugged. He was okay with Malfoy, except the blond kid talked about how wonderful his father was this and that. “Malfoy is tolerable, I guess, sir.”

“How do you feel about the materials? Are they too hard for you?”

Hasu almost snorted at Dumbledore’s concern. Despite his promise with his parents, he had to be blunt. “Hard? Not at all. In fact, I find them very easy. I can bet that eight-year-old kids in my country can easily finish the first-year materials.” _Or anyone in Asia_.

“I am vaguely aware that Asia is very passionate about education,” said Dumbledore. Hasu smugly smiled instead of replying. Dumbledore didn’t show any sign of displeasure at Hasu’s haughty attitude and continued, “I have called you not only to see how you are faring with the new school, but also to see if you are interested to find potential biological parents here.”

“No way,” a spontaneous refusal left Hasu’s mouth.

“No?”

“No, there is no way that British wizards leave their kid in Japan of all places. That’s just silly,” Hasu shook his head with a false nonchalance, but his heart started to beat faster. Did the headmaster somehow find out?

“Logically, it is indeed nonsensical, Mr. Katakura,” Dumbledore nodded with an understanding smile, “but magic often surpasses our realm of understanding, that is why it is so dangerous, so amazing and so intriguing. It can even make what we thought impossible to possible.”

“I mean, I know that my real parents abandoned me.”

“Pardon me?”

“When I was four, my sister and I got into an argument, and she told me I was not a real Katakura but a bastard child that some white woman left in a temple,” Hasu started to weave a lie, “and it made me really mad. I always had this burst of bad temper, and I threw a vase to her face. My mother yelled at me and grounded me in my room for bruising her eyes. I asked mother if what my sister told me was true, but she just ignored me. It was my father who told me that I really was abandoned in the temple. Apparently, an apprentice monk found my biological mother half asleep in a nearby park and took her in the temple, but she left me behind and ran away in the middle of night.”

Hasu carefully examined Dumbledore’s face as his brain constructed a fake sob story. Dumbledore seemed sorrowful and stunned by the story, and Hasu smiled inwardly. Well, it wasn’t entirely false; his father _did_ say that it was him who wanted to adopt him into Katakura family. It was also true that he was left in the temple, just no one knew who abandoned Hasu there. Lies were best told with nine truths and one falsehood.

“The monk contacted my father, and he adopted me into his family because he understood the stigma around orphans and biracial people. My father faced his share of discrimination for being a biracial and told me it’s wrong to hate others for having different skin and blood. He was really mad at my sister and burned half of her wardrobe, which made mother angry at him, and they argued for hours-”

“Why didn’t the monk try to find your mother?” Dumbledore asked.

“Why would he try to find the garbage of my mother?” Hasus’ face twitched in an annoyance. Couldn’t the old bastard just take his story as the face value and let it go?  

 “Shouldn’t he have tried to find your biological mother? It must have been easy to find her with magic. She is your family–“

 “And let her abandon me somewhere else? Do you hear what you are saying, professor?” Hasu raise his voice. The portraits of deceased headmasters and headmistresses gasped at his aggressive tone.

 “I understand you are mad at your mother,” Dumbledore soothingly spoke, “but I am sure that she must have felt incredibly guilty when she abandoned you. It is foolish to stew in a resentment instead of forgiving-“

“I don’t resent her,” Hasu cut off Dumbledore and snapped, “I just don’t care, professor, okay? I don’t want to be ruder than I am already now, but I think you are overstepping outside your boundary. I am Katakura, and that’s it.”

“But from what you say, you seem to be discriminated by others-“

 “And that is not your business, Headmaster,” Hasu lurched from his chair and glared at Dumbledore, “I don’t care you are Supreme Mugwump, I don’t care if you are a head of Wizengamot, and I don’t care if you are the greatest wizard in Britain. Maybe you should focus on pureblood wizards’ discrimination against muggleborns and half-bloods instead of sticking your nose to somewhere else! I am done here, so have a good day!”

 Hasu poured a slew of backtalk and walked out of the office. His heart burned with anger and annoyance, and he walked to Slytherin common room as soon as possible. Some students that he passed by flinched at his furious expression, but he ignored them and continued his angry march.

_“He doesn’t belong here.”_

_“Filthy orphan.”_

_“He sullies the good Katakura name.”_

His head started to hurt with memories that he wanted to shove away in a dusty corner of his psyche. He had long since grown a thick skin and sharp tongue, but the old scar never seemed to soften with time. He did try to please the others and fit in the crowd only to learn that it only enabled them to take advantage of him. His family name helped prevent the most bullies – except the daring morons like Furushima – from hurting him directly, but it couldn’t solve his isolation from his peers. He was on his own to protect himself, and he had to grow fangs to show others that he was a wrong one to fuck with.

_Stupid Dumbledore, why did he have to bring my parents up? What business did he have with it?_

Hasu took a deep breath and exhaled to soothe his anger. He couldn’t care less if Snape would give him a detention for backtalking to Dumbledore, but he was smart enough to not make unnecessary enemies with his housemates. He didn’t care either if Snape was hell bent on docking as many house points as possible from him. He knew that there was no point trying to please people like him because they would criticize everything he did, so all he could do was to give them a big middle finger and fight back. His brother once told him that Hasu seemed possessed by a ghost every time he got explosively furious, and his sister added that he needed to get an anger therapy before he killed someone. 

“Aconite,” Hasu shouted the password when he reached the dormitory. As the door opened the way , he strode straight into the common room and saw his peers sitting on the large sofa at the center of the room. He took a second to wipe an angry face and plopped on the chair next to the sofa.

“Enjoyed your stroll?” Malfoy acknowledged Hasu’s return.

“It was okay,” came an unenthusiastic reply. “How was lunch without me?”

“We just talked about how stupid Gryffindors are, especially Granger,” Parkinson cackled, and Crabbe and Goyle dumbly giggled.

 _And I am stuck with these jerks for a year, oh brother._ Hasu lamented. He took out a notebook and wrote, “Get a family tree book from Gringotts on this weekend, _”_ in Japanese and hoped that there would be something more interesting than Hogwarts classes. It was such a downer that the Potter heirs had to go to Hogwarts to acquire full ownership of Potter inheritances, but at the same time, he didn’t put as much effort in Hogwarts as he would in Japan, so he considered this as a sort of getaway.

 _And I get to test any spell that I want without getting caught,_ Hasu thinly grinned.

* * *

 

Dumbledore stayed still on his chair and repeated Harry’s explosive exit in his head. The child’s hostile eyes reminisced Dumbledore of the certain dark wizard who displayed similar emotions when he first met Dumbledore decades ago and later, when he tried to kill him during the wizard war. The animosity and hatred toward Dumbledore in those green eyes were so like Voldemort’s, and it made him think for a second that he was seeing the second Tom. 

 _Could have Tom affected Harry before his disappearance?_ Dumbledore thought for a second. Speculations still ran amok among Wizengamot, but aside the fact that the death curse went awry, nobody truly knew what exactly happened after Potter couple’s death. Some Wizengamot members suggested using a time-turner, but Madam Bones rejected it due to dangers of interference. If Voldemort indeed caused his own demise – not that Dumbledore actually believed it – and everything else that happened afterward was out of his control, there was no way that Harry was affected to act like Tom. No magical theory would explain such weird incidence-

-unless it was Horcrux.

Dumbledore moaned in an agony. Was a human horcrux really possible? Hocrux was often an object, and there had never been a living Horcrux. He always suspected that Tom might have made Horcrux to achieve grotesque immortality. If Harry somehow ended up being Tom’s Horcrux, it was possible that the soul shard might influence him into behaving like Tom. How big the soul shard might be, Dumbledore had no idea.

Dumbledore took a deep breath. He told himself that it was all just speculation with no evidences, and he shouldn’t act hastily. If horcrux was out of equation, it was more likely that the discrimination in Honshu twisted the boy into an angry person. Dumbledore didn’t expect Harry to be _that_ sensitive about the parents’ and regretted pressing the issues. He admitted that he wasn’t very familiar with Honshu’s culture despite being Supreme Mugwump; ICW mainly revolved around the European countries and maybe India, and as a result, most Asian communities had little presence in ICW – except China and Honshu. They had utterly rich history and legacies of magic that few European nations could compare and birthed many powerful witches and wizards that particularly excelled in potions, divination, and soul magic. Other Asian leaders venerated the two and followed them like de facto leaders, giving them a lot of political powers.

Dumbledore heaved a frustrated sigh. Contrary to a consensus, Supreme Mugwump didn’t have an almighty authority to demand everything from anyone. He was a democratically elected person, not a king of a dictator, and he had to be impartial. If he demanded Harry Potter’s repatriation from Honshu, even with evidences, it would depict him as a biased leader. Even if he somehow did it, there was a danger of Honshu’s secession. Although Honshu never explicitly stated any intention of leaving, the previous and current chancellor often hinted that they didn’t appreciate ICW’s interventions in their affairs, and Dumbledore knew that Honshu had no practical reason to stay in ICW. If Honshu left the confederation, China most likely would follow the pursuit. Very few realized that China and Honshu had enough power to drag other Asian leaders and establish their own organization, and the last thing Dumbledore wanted was a division of the wizardkind.

He had to lead Harry to voluntarily come back to Britain. Dumbledore could see that Honshu was not that different from Europe, and it could play in Dumbledore’s favor. Just like muggles were discriminated for not having pure magical blood, Harry was discriminated for his ethnic difference and status as an adopted child. There was no lie in what Harry said about racism in Japan. His life would be easier in Britain with his fame as a Boy-Who-Sacrificed, and perhaps he could use his Potter name to garner support for Dumbledore’s ideals. It wouldn’t be so hard to slowly detach Harry from corrupting influences like Malfoys or other children of Death Eaters and hopefully guide him to protect muggleborns and shun dark magic. It was unfortunate that Harry would never be a free-spirited man like James was, but it was a worthy sacrifice if it could banish Voldemort once again. Rumors said that an insidious dark magic was being performed in Albania, so he had to act fast and efficiently.

It was all for the good of wizards.


	9. Scholars of Asian Magical Arts

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Yes, I am alive. Forgive me :(.

 

 “I can’t believe Asians can use magic without wands, Katakura.”

“And I can’t believe you have _never_ thought of using magic without wands, Malfoy”

Hasu and Malfoy were waiting outside the courtyard for the other children to come for the first meeting. For last two days, Hasu discretely met Cho and discussed whom they should and should not include in their first meeting to discuss Asian magic. Cho wanted to bring all her friends in second years and couple first years, but Hasu adamantly refused and let her pick only two people that they could trust. She argued that wandless magic was not illegal and that they had no reason to limit, while Hasu argued that professors would try to limit their activities because it wasn’t something they could control, and that he didn’t want too many people in his group. After much compromise and vetting, Hasu and Cho agreed to bring three people from their respective houses: Malfoy, Greengrass and Nott from Slytherin, and Patil, Goldstein and Boot from Ravenclaw. Then, they agreed to meet at five in a quiet courtyard where people barely visited

“Ten more minutes,” Malfoy read his watch that his parents sent him yesterday. “So, if you can use wandless magic, does it mean you can do anything you want?”

“Not at all,” Hasu shook his head, “in fact, using magic in public is strictly controlled for that reason. There are multiple webs of barriers that record every spell used in certain ranges. For example, if someone cast a spell to break a public toilet, the law enforcement will immediately track down the criminal and arrest him. They pretty much can know anything.”

“That sounds….safe,” said Malfoy reluctantly, “but minors can still use magic outside the school?”

“You can use any magic you want as long as it’s not illegal or dangerous, your age doesn’t matter.”

“That still sounds better than here,” Malfoy swished his wand aimlessly and produced small green sparks. “Father tells me that you can’t use magic outside the school if you are a minor, and I think it’s stupid. All because of mud- I mean, muggles.”

“Professor McGonagall thinks the same, too.”

“That hag said that? How do you know? ” Malfoy’s eyes bulged out.

“I complained about it when I first met the professors to enroll here last summer. It’s really weird. In Honshu, we get summer assignments to review the materials and be ready for the new materials.”

“Ugh, I don’t want _that,”_ Malfoy scowled. “And here they come.”  

Malfoy saw Cho running toward them with three other Ravenclaws and three Slytherins tailing her. Nott and Greengrass looked mildly interested with usual composure while Goldstein, Boot and Patil brimmed with excitement. Cho seemed to be the most enthusiastic of all.

“Hi!” Cho smiled.

“Glad you came,” Hasu glanced at the Ravenclaws, “and you kept the promise. Hi Goldstein, Boot. I think I met you earlier this week. And this must be Patil?”

“Padma Patil. Pleased to meet you,” the fair skinned girl waved her hand.   

“Cho told me that you were going to teach some East Asian magic! Without wands!” Goldstein’s eyes twinkled with expectations.

“So, what are you going to show us?” Greengrass asked.

“I am thinking about simple elemental summon spell,” Hasu drew a circle with his right hand and inscribed two letters:  
火

(Fire in Ainu Katakana)

“Elemental magic? Like summoning water or fire? I thought that was advanced spell!” Padma exclaimed. Hasu looked at her like she was a little _slow_.

“I don’t know how you guys learn it, but this is one of the first stuff we learn in Honshu,” Hasu firmly pressed his palm on the circle and lifted it. Two seconds later, a small fire ignited.

“Wow,” Nott whispered.

“You _really_ did it without a wand. That’s impossible!” Goldstein gasped.

“Well, he just did,” said Malfoy.

“How exactly did you do it? What are those runes?” Greengrass stared at the circle.

“That stands for _fire_ In Chinese, right?” Cho recognized the _fire_ character pointed at it, “I don’t know the ones below, though.”

“These are called _Ainu_ letters,” Hasu stepped on the fire to extinguish it. There were thin smokes arising. “Ainu is a language used by indigenous people in a northern Japanese island named _Hokkaido_. Lots of basic elemental magic in Japan use _Ainu_ characters.”

“Is Ainu an old Japanese?”

“No, it’s actually different from Japanese,” Hasu stared to write more circles and letters, “Japanese has two sets of alphabets. One is _hiragana_ and the other is _katakana_. We use _Katakana_ to, uh, write down Ainu based on how it sounds. What is it called?”

“I think that’s called _transliteration_ ,” Padma kindly answered.  

“Ainu….indigenous letters…why use a different language instead of your own?” Cho pulled out her notebook and started to write down.

“There is no _must_  in magic,” Hasu started to scribble down _Hi._ “My father says that you can use any kind of language to help cast spells, but at the same time, languages _limit_ your imagination and power, which is why some really skilled sorcerers don’t rely on scripts to use magic. and all languages are different. Some languages with similar origins have similar characteristics, like English and Spanish. Japanese, on the other hand, is nothing like English. Different language has a different…fit for the purpose and types of magic. Chinese, which is a meaning-based language, excels at harnessing and controlling magic than many other sound based magic. Ainu language makes it easy to summon magical energy from the environment, so it’s great for elemental magic. English, on the other hand, is only good at simple spells.”

“I would have never known that languages can make that much differences!” Goldstein passionately wrote down everything and thickly underlined “languages”. “Is your dad a professor? He sounds really smart, he should come teach us.”

“He is a monk with a family temple, but he studied a lot of foreign languages.”

“So, if you put _water_ instead, it’s going to make a small pond?”

“Exactly.”                                                                     

“Do you have to use two languages? Can’t you one either one?” Greengrass tilted her head.

“You can, but only once you get used to it. This is an easy way to get used to summoning and controlling elemental spells for children. Like I said, there is no _must._ ”

Hasu repalced the _fire_ character with _water (水)_ character and effortlessly produced a small water pool in a circle. “These are just really basic elemental spells that help us exercise our control over magic in Honshu. Once you get used to the power, we will move on to summoning them without the letters. I am going to show you the examples, and you are going to copy me as best as you can.”

Just as Hasu expected, very few succeeded in summoning spells. They tried their best to emulate the spells, but the outcomes were inferior. Padma and Cho only produced a very tiny kindling while Goldstein made the ground slightly wet. The other three failed to produce anything at all, much to their shame. Hasu wondered if Cho could do better due to her heritage, but her subpar result showed that wasn’t the case. 

“This is cool!” Goldstein didn’t lose his enthusiasm despite the disappointing outcome.

“Why did mine fail while Padma and Cho didn’t?” Terry grumbled.

“Memorization isn’t enough. You have to imagine it vividly in your head when you cast this kind of spell,” Hasu erased the circles, “try again. Know what these letters mean and imagine them in your head.”

After thirty minutes of trials, everyone managed to show some progress with different degrees. Cho easily made water pool, fire pit, sapling and soil mounds while other Ravenclaws succeeded only two out of four elements. Malfoy and Nott managed to make fire only, but Greengrass summoned all but fire.

“We should show this to Professor Flitwick!” Anthony excitedly suggested.

“No way. I want to keep this kind of a secret!” Terry objected. He was now trying to make more fire by writing five _fire_ characters in a single circle. He almost set his sleeve on fire, but he didn’t seem to mind a little damage on his clothes.

“We need a name for this cool club!?” Padma pulled out a parchment and a quill. “I will start. Who likes _Society of Asia_?”

“That sounds too vague. We need make it more specific,” Hasu shook his head, “but I like the idea of putting _Asia_ in the name. Anyone else?”

“Katakura club?” Malfoy said.

“This isn’t a fan club. How about _Coalition of Ravenclaw and Slytherin_?” Nott suggested.

“We are not advocating for any house ideals, no.” Hasu frowned.

“How about _Society of Asian Magical Arts?_ ” Cho said, “then we can shorten it to SAMA. It’s easy to pronounce for all of us.”

“Maybe change _society_ to _scholars_? It still can be shortened to SAMA and defines what we do,”  Anthony offered enthusiastically.

“I like Cho and Anthony’s Idea. Any objections?” Hasu asked and waited for refusals. When everyone looked content at the new name, Hasu smiled and said, “well then, Scholars of Asian Magical Arts it is, SAMA in short. From now on, we will speak each other as _Scholars_ and use SAMA when we discuss our future meetings and the group’s interest. Is everyone happy with it?”

“We Ravenclaws are,” said Cho. Anthony and Terry nodded.     

“Make sure your twin doesn’t hear about this,” Malfoy looked at Padma.

“I won’t, Malfoy. Even if Parvati hears about this, she won’t tell Granger. My sister doesn’t even like her..”

“Who is this Granger?” Cho asked.

“Oh, a know-it-all first year Gryffindor that nobody likes,” Hasu rolled his eyes and sneered, “she acts like she knows everything and is supposed to be smarter than anyone. Remember how she looked at me yesterday, Malfoy?”

“She was about to murder you just because you made the boil cure potion faster than anyone,” Malfoy snickered. 

“Will you tell us how you finished half an hour faster than anyone? I put the ingredients in the wrong order so I ended up botching it,” Nott asked. He was later given an extra homework to describe why putting fangs before the slugs caused the rotting garlic stench, and it was sour to think about Snape’s dismayed expression at Nott.

“Maybe that will be our next topic!” Padma spoke giddily.

“Yes, later,” Hasu wrote down _Potion technic_ in his notebook.

“Speaking of botching, did you know that Longbottom _exploded_ a cauldron while working with Weasley?” Greengrass giggled, “oh, it wouldn’t have been as funny if he hadn’t been Gryffindor. Some older students in our house told me that every year some Gryffindor exploded a potion in the first class, and it was Neville Longbottom this year.”

“The fact that Weasley was with him didn’t help either. He ended up botching a second one, too, this time with a manure stench. Far worse than my garlic stench,” Nott shook his head.

“That would have been awful, someone could have been hurt!” Padma covered her mouth with her hands.

“Who cares? They are _Gryffindors_ , the embodiments of stupidity,” Malfoy sneered.

“My sister may not be as smart as you think you are, but she is _not_ stupid. I don’t see Crabbe and Goyle doing any better,” Padma’s face reddened.

“I have to agree with Patil here, Malfoy,” Hasu nodded. Everyone’s eyes were on him. “Those two remind me of a science article I read for my class last year. It wrote that inbred people have higher risks of low intelligence, insanity, early death and organ failures. Crabbe and Goyle perfectly fit into ‘dumb’ inbred children. Are their parents related to each other?”

“All purebloods are related to each other in some ways,” said Greengrass, “but some families accept half-bloods in their families. Greengrass is a pureblood name, but we have some half-blood ancestors. Shocking, right? We know that marrying your cousins or sisters is wrong for the same reason you just said. Other families like Lestranges and Gaunts only married within their families, and because of that there aren’t many Lestranges and Gaunts left. Wait, Gaunts are actually extinct now.”

“See, Malfoy? Don’t marry your sister or your cousin. Your family could go extinct like Gaunts,” Hasu grinned and wrapped his arm around Malfoy who looked increasingly uncomfortable. “Come on, don’t look like that! You look and sound far better than Crabbe and Goyle! You just learned a very important lesson that you should take to your heart.”  

“I am not going to marry my relatives, that’s disgusting.” Malfoy pushed Hasu’s arms away, “and I already know that incest is a terrible idea. Besides, shouldn’t we talk about when we are going to meet the next time?

“How about Thursday?” Nott said but then retracted his suggestion, “never mind, we have a flying lesson.”

“Why bother? I can’t fly in a broomstick anyway in Japan, it’s illegal. Only the government officials can fly on a portable item like a levitating fan or cushion,” Hasu groaned.

“Then how do you travel? Don’t you even have fire places?” Anthony gaped.  

“Ever been to secular train station? In Honshu, there are transit hubs all over the territory that connect the cities with mass teleportation magic system. It’s efficient to move a lot of people at once. It’s also faster than flying with a broomstick.”

“What about apparition? What if you miss the train?” Nott asked unbelievingly.

“You can only apparate within a same city, but not to other cities. If you try, you will trip a security barrier that spans across different areas. Again, you have to be a certified government official to do that.”  

“Your government kinda sounds too controlling, it’s kinda scary.” Terry shivered.  

“It’s all necessary to ensure that our country is not exposed to secular world and don’t let the criminals run around freely. I am surprised that you guys don’t have that kind of laws at all,” Hasu shrugged, “anyway, it’s obvious that you guys can’t meet on Thursday even if I manage to ditch the class. Do we have class after the flying lesson?”

“I have charms. The second years also have lengthy Herbology homework. Professor Sprout can be as bad as McGonagall when it comes to giving out homeworks,” Cho moaned. “Tuesday evening?”

“First year Ravenclaws have Astronomy with Gryffindors,” Anthony shook his head, “it looks like Friday evening is the best time for us to meet. We can stay up a little late and oversleep on Saturday.”

“Wish we could find a secluded area. This school is full of hiding spots,” Cho tilted her head in contemplation.

“How about that _forbidden corridor?_ ” Nott’s eyes twinkled.

“Last time I was in the English class, _forbidden_ means _not allowed_. Has the dictionary changed its definition?” Hasu asked with a deadpan face.

“You have to separately learn English?” Nott’s eyes widened.

“Nott, you shouldn’t assume that everyone in the world speaks English. My family is from India, and we have our own language named Hindi,” Padma shook her head and smiled at Hasu who nodded approvingly.

“I knew something wasn’t right when your English sounded a little different,” said Malfoy.

“I had to memorize all the stupid English grammar rules and pronunciation. Let me tell you: English sucks. It’s like a mix of almost every European language that exists, and there are always exceptions to the rules. Good thing that I have a father who grew up speaking it. Most of my classmates spent five hours taking English tutoring outside the school, and I still beat them because I grew up studying it from my father.”    

“Five hours?” Padma gasped, “My parents said that there are a lot of education fever in India. I guess that’s the same in Japan?”

“Yes. We also put up a scoreboard after every midterm and final exam.”

_And I have to keep up the top five to live up to my name_ , thought Hasu. He strove to compete with other prestigious families’ kids since age seven to not embarrass his family. Hasu and his siblings were taught from the early age that their family’s honor didn’t mean anything if they couldn’t prove that their worth. They understood the repercussion of failures and never put down their efforts. For many children, being a top five even just for once would have meant the world, but for Hasu, it was simply a checkmark in his never-ending to-do list. Competitions among the upper-class families were constant, and it caused an immense pressure that outsiders would never understand. It was an unspoken truth that those who failed to hold the honor of family were either cast away as a recluse or worse, stripped of their family names and forced to live as a nobody.

He wondered that if same thing happened with European purebloods. Would they cut off their children if they married _unfit_ partners, failed academically, or were disappointments in general? Some pureblood children he saw in Hogwarts were subpar, like Crabbe and Goyle who only cared about eating, evil-eyed Ron Weasley who always seemed distracted in classes, or Neville Longbottom who couldn’t even cast a simple spell. They wouldn’t survive for a second in a competitive Japanese society.

“Anyways,” said Nott, “if we want somewhere that nobody would come, forbidden corridor would be the ideal place.”

“But what about the rules and deadly danger?”

“Oh please,” Hasu laughed at Padma’s concern, “teachers always make up silly excuses to scare the students. I am sure it’s something like constructions. Do you really think they would put a deadly monster in a _school_?”

“I guess not…” Goldstein scratched his head. He looked at Cho and asked, “you have been here for a year, do you think the headmaster was joking?”

“My mom always said that Dumbledore is a little crazy, but I agree with Hasu. Surely Professor Dumbledore was joking!” Cho smiled at Hasu.

“Well if that’s the case, let’s meet at the third corridor,” Hasu said amd smiled back a bit forcedly. He felt strange that a girl he barely knew was quick to be affectionate with him. Did she want something from him?

“This is fun, breaking rules! So, next Friday at the Forbidden Corridor?”” Padma rubbed her hands.

“Next Friday,” Malfoy repeated.

“Cool! Can’t wait for another meeting,” said Goldstein. He then offered his hand to Hasu. “It was very nice of you to let Cho invite us. I would have never thought that a magic like this would be possible,”

“I am glad you found this enjoyable,” Hasu politely said and shook Anthony’s hands. He and Terry were the first people outside his house who showed interest to his background and were willing to learn more about him. It was nice to know that they weren’t trying to butter up to him like many of his peers in Honshu. “Maybe next time we can talk about a bit more complicated elemental magic. And a bit history of East Asia.”

“I can ask my dad to send me some Chinese history book!” Cho chirped.

“That would be great. I can ask my parents to send me Honshu ones.”

“Wonderful!” Cho smiled happily. “We should get going. It’s already supper time, and others will wonder where we are.”

The group quickly went back to Great Hall before the professors and their housemates picked up their absences. The Slytherins and Ravenclaws split up outside the Hall to avoid any suspicion and joined their respective tables. Crabbe and Goyle grunted when they saw Hasu and Malfoy and scooched to make spaces for them. Nott sat next to Blaise, and Greengrass settled next to Pansy. Hasu sat and looked at the food with grimace. All he saw was plates of greasy and sugary foods that he couldn’t bring himself to eat. After a minute of contemplations, he scooped some plain toasts and boiled eggs.

“I think Cho likes you,” Nott said out of blue. Hasu choked on his food and had to quickly chug on orange juice.

“Don’t die, Katakura,” Zabini joked.

“We have only known each other for a week, don’t be silly,” Hasu swiftly wiped his mouth with a napkin.

“The way she looked at you reminds me some older, lovestruck girls in our house,” Greengrass teased with a thin smile.

“Really?” Pansy’s eyes twinkled at the gossip.

“You already scored a girlfriend, Katakura. Congrats. Do they teach how to be smooth in Honshu?” Blaise snickered.

“I _do not_ want a girlfriend. At least, not until I go to a university,” Hasu huffed and cut his plain scone into pieces. He then added when he saw blank faces, “university is a higher up school where you learn professional knowledge. You get a degree in your field and graduate to find a job.”

“Sounds like a school with apprenticeship.”

“Pretty much,” Hasu looked at plethora of dishes and thought which to eat next. He was getting tired of boiled egg sandwiches. He finally picked bacons and blotted the grease with napkins.

“Anyway, will you go out with Cho if she asks?” Pansy didn’t give up on the issue.

Hasu rolled his eyes and looked at Pansy like her brain had rotted. “What did I just say?”

“I know what you said, but going out once doesn’t mean you two are boy and girlfriends!”

“My answer is going to be same: no.”

“So cold and heartless, Katakura,” Blaise and Nott snickered. Even Greengrass had to stifle her laugh.

“Stop that!” Hasu forcibly put down his silverware, but his housemates kept snickering. Even Crabbe and Goyle, who has been listening partially, giggled dumbly.

_I am stuck with morons._

Hasu angrily lurched up from the seat and stomped out of the hall, ignoring others’ calls to come back. He strode straight back to the dungeon and read the Honshu Academy textbooks. He could study them later, but he couldn’t think of other ways to forgot what his housemates told him.

_That’s just silly,_ thought Hasu. They were only eleven and twelve, for god’s sake! Even if Hasu somehow ended up going out with Cho, he would have to break up after his first year. Why bother to have a relationship when it was bound to end later?   

_Whoosh._

An ink pot barely missed Hasu’s head and loudly hitting the stone floor.

“Who’s that?!”

Hasu angrily turned around but saw nothing. He then heard obnoxious cackles and looked up to see a poltergeist that had armful of ink bots. 

“Ooh, firsty is angry, eh?”

A string of vulgarities was about to leave Hasu’s mouth, but he quickly changed his mind. He looked around the empty hallway and saw that it was only him here. He was sure that others would still be eating. Hasu always finished ten and few minutes earlier, this time much earlier thanks to his housemates’ constant teasing.

A nasty smile crept on Hasu’s lips. It was a perfect timing to play some _prank_ on this annoying spirit. A simple Buddhist chant would work, but this time, he decided to push his normal boundaries. 

“What is your name?”

“What?” Peeves asked back.

“I said,” Hasu smiled, “what is your name?”

“I am Peeves, the greatest Poltergeist!” Peeves inflated his chest.

“I am sorry? Can you repeat?” Hasu tilted his ear toward Peeves.

“Peeves!”

“One more time?”

“Little firsty is a deaf already? I said Peeves!” Peeves lost patience.

Hasu widely smiled. “I got you, _Peeves_. _Kagurasuzu no Naki!(Weep of Kagura bell)”_

Peeves immediately contorted his phantom body in agony with his hands on his ears. Hasu grinned after seeing that the spell succeeded.

“Make it stop! Where does this bell noise come from!?”

“I see that you _are_ a malicious entity. I wonder why Professor Dumbledore keeps you around?” Hasu ignored Peeves’ plea and clapped. Peeves wrapped around his head and cried in even more pain.

“Do you know what _Kagurasuzu_ mean?” Hasu asked in a tone that feigned obliviousness to Peeve’s agony. “No? Let me explain it to you. It means ‘divine entertainment bell’, a common artifact that many priests and priestesses uses for various rituals. _Daikagura,_ for example, is used to dispel evil spirits, which in this case, is _you_. Love that clear, resonant sounds, don’t you? The almost resemble Christmas jingles.”

Peeves, unfortunately, didn’t seem to care about Hasu’s short cultural enrichment as he started to stick his pale fingers in his ears in a vain attempt to stop the noise in his head. Hasu couldn’t hear it, but he could tell that the hallucinogenic bell sounds only got louder and louder in the ghost’s head. He had learned this from his family – as a spiritual magic was not allowed for younger children in school – but this was the first time he cast it, and he was impressed that it succeeded so easily.

“Oh please, this is worse than Bloody Baron’s angry voice!” Peeves whined.

“Are you going to bother me again?” Hasu asked innocently. Peeves bit his lips and glared at Hasu without his usual mischievous glint, but soon paled with fear – if it was possible – when he saw Hasu raising his hands to clap again.

“No! No! I beg you to stop!”

“Say that you won’t get in _Katakura Hasu’s_ way again,” Hasu put down his hands and demanded.

“ _IwillnotgetinKatakurahasu’swayagain!”_

“Say one more time _clear-ly,_ ” Hasu teased.

“I-I will not get in-Katakura Hasu’s way again!” Peeves stuttered like Quirrell.

Hasu snapped his finger. Peeves was freed from the seizure as the bell sounds finally let go of him. The fearful look stayed in his face, however, and he cautiously stared at Hasu.

“Don’t look at me like I am a murderer! It’s just a _prank_ ,” Hasu laughed but then wiped away his jovial expression. He walked toward Peeves whose fear only amplified as the boy got closer and closer to him. 

“When I told you to not get in my way,” said Hasu quietly, “that also means not ratting me out to anyone in this building. Or anyone that I didn’t allow you to. Understood?”

Peeves blankly stared at him.

“No?” Hasu raised his hands again.

“Yes, I do! I understand!” Peeves quickly caved in.

“Good. Don’t’ mess with a wrong crazy kid. Go.”

Peeves flew away as fast as he could. Hasu watched the pesky poltergeist leave out of his sight completely and looked around the hallway. He grinned when he saw no one.

“Sometime,” hu muttered with a thin smile, “you gotta vent out some frustration.” 

   

 

  


	10. Intel

“I hope I made myself very clear, Mr. Malfoy.” Snape silkily drawled to the boys that irate Madam Hooch had dragged to his office during the first year students’ flying lesson. The furious woman barged into Snape’s room and said that she had to bring Neville Longbottom to the infirmary because he fell from a broomstick, and when she came back, she saw Ronald Weasley rolling on the ground in pain. The Gryffindors angrily accused Katakura of kicking Weasley’s knees while the Slytherins refuted that Weasley taunted Katakura and Malfoy, to which Gryffindors argued that Malfoy made fun of Longbottom first. Quickly getting sick of the arguments, Madam Hooch ordered Mr. Finnigan and Thomas to take Mr. Weasley to the hospital wing while she brought Hasu and Malfoy to Snape’s office for disciplines. After Madam Hooch left to resume her flying lesson, Malfoy tried to blame everything on Weasley, but a harsh glare from Snape instantly stopped his rant. He then admitted trying to steal Longbottom’s Remembrall and insulting him and Weasley, to which Snape explained how uncouth and brash it was to openly – he emphasized the word _openly -_ take someone else’s property.

 

          “And ten points from Mr. Katakura for resorting to muggle fighting to settle a dispute instead of a civil manner.”

         

 _Whatever,_ Hasu rolled his eyes internally. He didn’t expect Snape to take his sides anyway. The greasy man never liked him from the start, so he didn’t care that Snape took points from him only.

 

          “Now, get out of my sight,” Snape barked.

         

          _Gladly,_ thought Hasu. He could feel Snape’,s penetrating gazes behind his head as he left the office, but he was not scared a bit.

 

“Are you sure you haven’t done anything to hate you?” Malfoy asked. They started walking to the common room as they didn’t have classes after the flying lesson.

 

“I don’t know, maybe he hates Japan?”

 

“Do you mean muggle Japan or your Japan? And why would he hate Japan?” Draco frowned at the unexpected answer.

 

"Because Japan and England were enemies during the Second World War? Perhaps his father died in that war, and Snape is taking his grudge on me. Something like that happened to me once three years ago.”

 

“What happened?”

 

"Uhm…,” Hasu bit his lips while he tried to fetch the memories, “oh yes, it happened when I visited Tokyo. There was this famous theater play we call _Kabuki,_ and I was on my way to get to the VIP seat. I bumped into this middle-aged woman, and I told her I was sorry. Then, she turned into a psycho and screamed something about _filthy baby-eating_ _westerner_   leaving dirt in great Japan. I later found out that she lost her son during the war, and it made her hate Europeans and Americans.”

 

 “That is insane. Was she kicked out?”

 

“The security guards had to drag her out. She kept screaming about how a proper Japanese citizen like her was manhandled like a street hobo while a disgusting westerner like me was even allowed in,” Hasu giggled as if it had been a fond memory. Malfoy gaped at his laugh.

 

“How can you laugh at something like that? If I were you, I would have made sure that she went to Azkaban!”

 

“She wasn’t worth my time,” Hasu shook his head. “What could she possibly do to me? She was just a nobody. It would tarnish my family name to retaliate to someone who doesn’t have any real power to harm me. That being said,” Hasu’s green eyes glinted dangerously, “if someone dares drag me down, I would make sure they will pay for it. People tried to walk all over me because I have foreign blood or because I am adopted, so I made sure that they regretted it.”

 

“What on earth did you do?” Malfoy lowered his voice when he saw some older students passed by them. The two sat on a large couch in Slytherin common room.

 

“Two went to hospital, two were suspended, and one got expelled,” Hasu smiled with a vicious satisfaction. His green eyes shone vindictively. “Long story short, they attacked me, so I defended myself _a little_ _more_ than necessary. Their parents tried to get me expelled, but because my family was one of the school founders, I got off easy. My mother, though, was livid with me. Ugh,I don’t want to think about it.”

 

“Japan doesn’t sound so nice like you always make it to,” Malfoy shivered. 

 

“Can you say that as someone who believes pure blood supremacy?” Hasu raised his eyebrows.

 

“It’s different!”

 

“How?”

 

“How? Well…”

 

 Draco’s mouth was ajar. Really, how was his pureblood idea any different from Honshu wizards’ dislike against foreigners? Hasu lived there all his life, and some people still seemed to see and treat him as an outsider. Malfoy’s face was filled with frustration to solve the contradiction. “I mean…,” Malfoy tried to justify himself, “my family doesn’t care about skin color. That’s how.”

 

“But the fact that purebloods look down on muggleborns because of their heritages doesn’t change. Just like what they did to me,” Hasu countered.

 

Silence.

 

“Hello?”

 

“I don’t know, then,” Malfoy looked defeated.

 

“Maybe you should think before believing everything the adults say,” said Hasu, devoid of any indication of his feelings or thoughts. “Snape isn’t pureblood, but he seems to a great expert in his field. So is Granger, if she stopped running her know-it-all mouth all the time.”

 

“It’s _Professor_ Snape,” Malfoy corrected Hasu, “and he is one of us. He is not stupid like Gryffindors, not a bookworm like a Ravenclaw or a…a…boring _nobody_ like Hufflepuff. He takes care of us, so he’s okay. He is also my father’s friend.”

 

“But he is a mudblood, according to _your_ definition,” said Hasu without looking at Malfoy.

 

“I-“

 

“Draco! Katakura!” Parkinson jumped on Malfoy and gave him a suffocating hug. Other first years eventually gathered in the common room. Parkinson kept smothering Malfoy and asked, “are you two okay?  What did Professor Snape say?”

 

 

“Just some warnings and point deductions,” Hasu glanced at Parkinson. She and other first years looked surprised.

 

“But why?” Tracy Davis protested, “you were just trying to break off the fight! It’s not fair!”

 

“To be honest, _he and her_ ,” Hasu pointed Malfoy and Parkinson, “started the whole thing but he didn’t lose any points. I did because I was acting like a muggle.”

 

“I don’t know why he hated you so much, but you don’t care, do you?” said Millicent Bulstrode, half-amused and half-confused.

 

“Nope.”

 

“Hasu thinks that Snape hates him because Snape’s father was probably killed by Japanese during the muggle world war. According to our friend here, Japan and England were enemies,” said Draco.

 

“I am not sure about that,” Nott objected.

 

“Why?” Hasu asked.

 

Everyone looked at Nott. The dirty blond boy didn’t respond immediately but stared at Hasu with a contemplative look.

 

“What?”

 

“You just said that Professor Snape took off ten points for acting like a muggle. By the way, that knee-kicking was genius,” Nott thinly smiled, “and Professor Snape doesn’t seem to care much about muggles. Why would he care about his _muggle_ father?”

 

“He is not a pureblood? I didn’t know!” Pansy’s eyes widened.

 

“Snape isn’t a wizard surname,” Nott’s eyebrows contorted in annoyance, “anyway, I don’t think he is really fond of muggles in general.”

 

“I mean, it’s still his father.”

 

“Not everyone is happy with their own family members,” said Nott with a grimace.

 

 _I wonder if my birth parents would like me as I am if they were alive,_ Hasu wondered. He read _Pure-blood Directory_ when he managed to be alone one time, and he learned that Potters were considered one of the worst “traitors”. Potters, according to the author who was a blatant blood purist, were one of the oldest wizard families in the history, and they were well known for advocating protections for muggles and their welfare. Many Potter males were traditionally Gryffindors who fought for muggle protections and welfare, and it led to conflicts with many Slytherin purebloods such as Blacks, Malfoys and Lestranges. In fact, Potters helped establish International Statue of Wizarding Secrecy with Weasleys, Prewetts and McMillans while staunch blood supremacists called for an all-out war against muggles who persecuted wizard kinds during the sixteenth and seventeenth century. The author even dared say that Potters responsible for wizards’ ‘miserable, reclusive’ lives that current generations had. They slowly lost their political powers since the establishments of Ministry of Magic, which hugely favored blood purists, and eventually were ousted from the politics and from _Sacred Twenty-Eight Purebloods_ list.

Despite the author’s unbridled bias, Hasu thought that the book was a much better history teacher than a boring moron that Binns was. It also shed light on his birth family’s heritage, which he honestly found somewhat disappointing. His ancestors seemed to have been too complacent and self-righteous to not realize that Seculars could be just as wicked and cruel as wizards, sometimes even more so. He knew so well about dangerous weapons and heinous acts that Seculars committed in history thanks to Honshu Academy’s brutal memorization study methods, and many of them were gruesome enough to horrify these oblivious British wizards.

 

But most importantly, he was the first Potter in Slytherin. There had never been any Potter child sorted into Slytherin, and if the words got out, he would be considered as one of the biggest Freak in Wizard’s history. Would Potters spurn him? Would people ostracize him just for being a Slytherin Potter? He had already voiced from time to time how dangerous Seculars were, and he was met with either disbelieving looks and scoffs or contemptuous and accusative remarks of being blood purist.

 

“Hey, Katakura!”

 

Hasu blinked at Blaise. “What?”

 

“I asked if you plan to go ask Madam Hooch for a remedial flying lesson.”

 

Hasu thought for a second and shrugged, “not really. I don’t even like flying on a broomstick. Malfoy, what about you?”

 

“No. I already know how to fly. Father taught me since I was young,” said Malfoy smugly. Blaise and Daphne rolled her eyes at his pompous attitude.

 

“I am bored,” Pansy blurted out, “I want to do something fun.” 

 

“Read _Witch Weekly,_ ” said Nott.

 

“Tracey and I already read the latest one,” Pansy shook her head.

 

“I am going to library to borrow some books,” Hasu got up from the chair and hung his bag around him. He then turned to see Malfoy and asked, ”do you need any books?”

 

“Do I look like Granger?”

 

“No.”

 

“Exactly,” Malfoy smirked.

 

“Just trying to be a helpful roommate,” Hasu then left his peers behind and walked out of the common room.

 

As he strode over the ascending stone steps, he glanced at the grim and ominous, grin torches and the stone walls with no outside light and shook his head in a dismay. It was as depressing and oppressive as a prison, and he wondered why the founder thought it was a great idea to shove children into the underground without any sunlight. Salazar Slytherin must have been a one-dimensional, hand-rubbing villain who liked to see children turn out just like him, otherwise it couldn’t explain why the kids called the dorm _beautiful_. Hufflepuff dorm was also located in Hogwarts’ basement, but at least it had some artificial lightings and was close to the kitchen. He wouldn’t have minded sneaking out some late-night cookies.

 

After emerging to the entrance hall and avoiding a few Gryffindor students that he had seen during the flying lesson, he reached the library in no time. There were only a couple of older students studying in groups and Madam Pince who always seemed angry and resentful at children. Ignoring her penetrating gazes, Hasu headed to the shelves that he had planned to come back last time he was doing homework with Malfoy. He slid his finger over the dusty, old books and found the thick, leathery tome.

_“Ambiguous Magic of British Isle.”_

“There you are.” Hasu’s eyes lit and grabbed the book. He always found it strange that Hogwarts didn’t touch upon the evolutions of magic like Honshu did. Honshu Academy emphasized the importance of learning the changes and trends of magic in different eras to understand the development of modern magic, and it constituted the major parts of history classes. He once asked Binns why Hogwarts didn’t teach it, but Binns seemed completely confused by the question then ignored it. It annoyed that the Headmaster would keep such an incompetent space filler. Then again, maybe he shouldn’t have been surprised by this since Magical Britain seemed to appreciate very little about such topics.

 

“You are a first-year, right? Why are you borrowing such an esoteric book?”” Madam Pince suspiciously looked at Hasu when he approached the circulation desk.

 

 _None of your business,_ was what Hasu wanted to spit, but he instead answered, “I think it’s important to know where the magic came from and how it changed over the tims.”

 

“You are just eleven years old.”

 

“Well, I am a fourth year in home country and always have been top five in my school, which has way more students than here, so I think I am _fine_ ,” Hasu started to lose his patience at this old woman who just didn’t let it go. Pince scrutinized Hasu’s face for a few seconds, but she finally tapped the book with her wand for a check-out. “You better handle this with utmost care. This is one of the most valuable book in the library.”

 

“Yes, I _will,_ ” Hasu rolled his eyes. He carefully slid the book into his bag and headed back to Slytherin common room. He hoped that Malfoy would let him use his owl so that he could write to Gringotts and request them to send some Potter Family tomes from his vaults. It was great that Gringotts worked independently from the ministry and preserved Hasu’s little secret.

 

Just as he turned to go down the main entrance hall stairs, he saw two Gryffindors that he wanted to see the least today.

 

“...I don’t understand what I did wrong,” said Longbottom dejectedly. 

 

Longbottom looked uncharacteristically upset, and Weasley was saying something to calm down the other boy.  Hasu remembered that Longbottom hurt his wrist when he fell from his broomsticks earlier, but it wasn’t a serious injury that magic couldn’t heal. It wouldn’t make someone like Longbottom that mad.

 

“Headmaster must have some plans for you, Neville. He promised to help!” said Weasley, desperate to pull his friend out of gloominess. But Longbottom’s shoulder slouched.

 

“No, he’s just stopped talking to me since July. I asked Granny if I did something wrong, but she wouldn’t tell me. Said I am better off without Professor Dumbledore, but then who’s going to help me get strong to avenge my parents?”

 

“Well,” Weasley scratched his head trying to come up with an explanation, “maybe he just got really busy this year. A day before we came here, I heard Mum and Dad talking about Professor Dumbledore doing a very important project with his old friend…I don’t know what it is, but it must be really important, right?”

 

“I was flailing on the broom like an idiot!” Longbottom burst into tears. “I saw everyone’s face when I fell down. They looked at me like I am a total moron. Malfoy is right, I am an idiot! Headmaster has been training me since I was six, and I still can’t get a single spell right! I will die even before I aim my wand at Bellatrix Lestrange!”

 

“Don’t say that!” Weasley shouted desperately. “You are not an idiot! I am not good at classes either!” 

 

Confusion sprouted like a weed in Hasu’s head.  Other than the fact that Longbottom was one of Sacred Twenty-Eight, he was no more interesting or conspicuous than ivy vines on Hogwarts’ walls when he wasn’t exploding things in Potion class. There was nothing special about Longbottom…why would someone of Dumbledore’s caliber even bother to train one specific person, a mediocre one at that? And what happened between Lestrange’s and Longbottom’s? 

 

“You don’t think it has to do with _him_ , do you?” Longbottom sniffed.

 

“Him?”

 

“You know…Katakura.”

 

“Why would Professor Dumbledore stop training because of a _Slytherin_?” Ron spat with a disgust.

 

“Granny told me that Harry Potter’s body was never found,” said Neville. His pained face filled with contemplation. “Not even the best Aurors could find him. They also searched muggle Britain and some part of Europe like France and Spain.”

 

“And?” Ron asked dumbly.

 

“What if Katakura is Harry Potter?”

 

Ron stared at Neville with a blank face. He then bust into a laughter.

 

“Stop laughing, I am serious!” Neville angrily shouted.

 

“Neville, that’s silly.” Ron shook his head. “Why would anyone kidnap Harry Potter from _that_ faraway place? Honshu is on the other side of the Earth, it just makes no sense.”

“But Professor Dumbledore said that magic can do any-“

 

“Look, Neville.” Ron firmly grabbed Neville’s shoulder. His eyes looked right into Neville’s. “There is no way that You-Know-Who had a Honshu Death Eater or any followers outside Britain. Professor Dumbledore would have known if that had been true!”

 

“But what if Harry Potter apparated with an accidental magic?”

 

“Neville, I don’t think that’s possible, even with an accidental magic,” Ron firmly denied. “My dad told me some of the most wicked accidental magic, and the craziest one I heard was about a kid who blew up a house. That’s weak compared to disappearing to the other side of the world. I think you just need to calm down and wait until Professor Dumbledore is done with whatever he is doing.”

 

“But what if Harry Potter _does_ come back?” Neville said timidly.

 

“So? That doesn’t matter to me,” Ron spoke in a heartbeat, “you are my friend. Even if Professor Dumbledore dumps you just because of Harry Potter, I will help you avenge your parents.”

 

Neville tightly hugged Ron. The redhead seemed a little uncomfortable, but Neville didn’t seem to care. “Thanks, Ron.”

 

“What are friends for?” Ron said nervously. “Now, can you uh, let go of me?”

 

“Sorry,” Neville released the hug and smiled, “but then, what should I do meantime?”

 

“I can be your sparring partner!” Ron said cheerfully, “my brother, Bill, knows a lot about curses and their counter-spells. Maybe he can give some advice. Or, maybe Fred and George, if they took us seriously…”

 

Hasu quietly receded. After witnessing a heartwarming loyal friendship, he wanted to scream. Was Longbottom right that Dumbledore stopped this _training_ because of Hasu? Then, how did Dumbledore figure out his true identity?

 

He then remembered his mother’s threat. If Britain were to verify his identity and claim him as a British citizen, he would immediately lose a Honshu citizenship and be forced to take up Potter name. He knew nobody here, and it would put him in an unguarded state where others would try to prey on him. Whether it was Voldemort sympathizer that wanted to kill him like his mother guessed, or it was opportunists who wanted to enjoy the “honor” of claiming the last Potter heir, the wizards would try to take advantage of his overflowing Potter wealth and prestige. That was the last thing he wanted, no matter what.  

 

But if Dumbledore really knew, why would he not publicize it? It made no sense that someone of such political power and achievements would hold the information from the public. His words as a leader of ICW and Wizengamot would be taken at a face value, and not even Katakuras might be able to stop him.

 

 _Maybe the headmaster is planning to use me for his own purpose,_ thought Hasu. _Just like he is training Longbottom for another ulterior goal. There is no way that he is - was wasting his precious time just out of pure charity._ _Even the most benevolent politicians have their secrets. What would Dumbledore’s be?_

 

            “Time for research, then.” Hasu muttered. He needed to approach Longbottom sooner or later when he was alone so that he could find out whether Longbottom had any connection to Harry Potter, and why he was a _substitute_ , if Dumbledore really stopped the training just because of Hasu. Unlike Weasley, Hasu harbored no animosity toward the shy boy, and perhaps he could have a civil conversation with the poor kid.

 

            It was time to turn to Malfoy and fish some information.


	11. Third Floor Corridor's secret

 “She was one of the most infamous Death Eaters during the war.”

 

“What did she do?”

 

Malfoy’s pale face paled even more. They were sitting in the forbidden corridor for the second meeting of SAMA and waiting for other students. Hasu had ordered Peeves to look out for other ghosts and Filch, so he had no worries of being caught by anyone. He had told other students as well that Peeves wouldn’t bother them while coming down here. The corridor was dusty and dirty with cobwebs, and it made Hasu wonder why this was forbidden.

 

“She cast Cruciatus curse on Longbottom couples and drove them to insanity,” Draco said timidly. “It’s the worst torture curse known in the world. They are now in St. Mungos, and they may never come out sane again. Lestrange was sentenced to life time in Azkaban.”

 

“Oh.” Hasu scowled in disgust.

 

“Why do you ask?” Draco asked.

 

“Yesterday, I heard Longbottom saying something about avenging his parents and make Lestrange pay, so I was curious.”

 

“Oh.” Malfoy blinked. His eyes looked sideways and avoided Hasu’s.

 

“Why do you look so uncomfortable?”

 

“She is my aunt,” Draco poked his wand on the floor and drew a fire circle that he practiced last week. A small kindling burst into life and provided some warmth in the dingy corridor. “My mom is her younger sister. Their last names used to be Black, one of the most prestigious pureblood name that’s now practically extinct. She married another Death Eater whose name as Rabastan Lestrange, and my mom married my father, so there is no one to continue the Black line. A lot of purebloods know, but they don’t openly talk about it because-“

 

“-she was one of the terrorist goons, I know.”

 

Draco glared at him, but Hasu didn’t falter. “What? I am saying as it is. It’s not like you personally know her. Why is Black family now extinct? Did they die in the war?”

 

“Other than my mother and my aunt being married to other families?” Malfoy pondered for a moment. He then opened his mouth with a grave expression, “one of the heirs is now in Azkaban, and his younger brother has gone missing during the war. Everyone was so surprised when the heir turned out to be a Death Eater.”

 

“Why?”

 

“Sirius Black was a friend to Potter couples, or so people thought,” said Malfoy, “I don’t know all the exact details, but apparently it was him who exposed Potters’ hiding spots to You-Know-Who. He also killed another friend called Peter Pettigrew and twelve muggles in London. People who knew him in school said that he was the last person they expected to be a Death Eater because he was a Gryffindor who loved everything muggle,” a disdainful sneer appeared on the corner of his lips. “On the other hand, nobody knows what happened to his younger brother, Regulus Black. The only thing I heard about him was that he was a proper, proud pureblood unlike his muggle-loving older brother. I wish I could meet him. He would be thirty now if he came back alive and revived Black House to its old glory.”  

 

Hasu rolled his eyes. He wondered why Malfoy looked so serious when he mentioned Blacks, and now he knew that it was only because that the Black Brothers became unavailable to continue their family line, not because of their crimes.

 

Malfoy’s careless gossips, however, confirmed two things about Potters that Hasu learned from Ragnuk II last July. One, Potters were actively against Voldemort, and two, Sirius Black, one of their closest friends betrayed them to Voldemort for unknown reason. Why he betrayed Potters to Voldemort, neither Malfoy nor Ragnuk seemed to know other than that he might have been a secret Death Eater. 

 

But this wasn’t enough for Longbottoms’ possible connection to Hasu.

 

“Why did your aunt attack Longbottoms?”

 

“Well, they were one of the worst blood-traitors to fight against Death Eaters and You-Know-Who,” said Malfoy as if it were a stupid question, “Lestranges were some of few Death Eaters who kept looking for You-Know-Who, and they tortured Longbottoms to know where You-Know-Who disappeared to. Obviously, they didn’t know, but she still sent them to a looney bin. Blood traitors are just as bad as muggleborns.”

 

“Hmm.”

 

 _So, was Dumbledore simply being nice to help him?_ Hasu frowned. It might be possible that he was overthinking it, and that Dumbledore’s private tutelage was out of pity. It was dreadful to think that one’s parents were permanently imprisoned in a hospital because there were no chance to be sane again. Perhaps it was a sort of compensation for the Longbottom couples’ dedication to the war efforts. Then again, why did he stop helping Longbottom? 

“Then, why did Voldemort-“

 

“Don’t say his name!”

 

“Why? Is he going to take our souls?” Hasu snickered at Malfoy’s fear-stricken face. “It’s just a name, you are being silly.”

 

“Everyone fears that name except Dumbledore,” Malfoy mumbled.

 

“Fine. You are such a wuss-puss,” Hasu insulted jokingly. Malfoy glared at him again, but Hasu nonchalantly asked, “why did our glorious _You-Know-Who_ attack Potters?”

 

“No one knows,” Malfoy shrugged, “but maybe because Potters were like pests to him. They arrested a lot of Death Eaters and their sympathizers, and they escaped alive from many attacks. That might be why You-Know-Who personally went after them, and in the end, they died at his hands.”

 

          “But surely people like Longbottoms arrested a lot of Death Eaters, right? Why did the Potters have to hide when others didn’t?”

 

          “Maybe because James Potter married a muggleborn, and Death Eaters hate it?”

 

          “You just said that blood traitors are just as bad as muggleborns,” Hasu pointed out the inconsistency.

 

          “Now that I think of it, it _is_ strange,” Malfoy frowned. He gazed at the ceiling in contemplation, “Weasleys are notorious for obsessing over muggle stuff like airplane and electri-something. Yes, some of Weasley relatives like Prewetts died during the war, but none of them went into hiding. Maybe I should ask father.”

 

          “Was your father a Death Eater, too?”                        

 

          “Yes,” said Malfoy. He then quickly added as if making an excuse, “but he was cast Imperius cusre and forced to do You-Know-Who’s bidding. You know, the spell that makes someone do _anything_ on your whim. It was common for Death Eaters to use Imperius curse on wizards at that time.”

 

          “Okay.”

 

          “I am not lying,” Malfoy’s tone got defensive.

 

          “Did I say you are?” Hasu arched his delicate eyebrows.

 

          “But you _think_ I am lying.”

 

          “Pardon me,” Hasu snorted, “but considering it was most likely your parents that taught you how seculars are filthy and below the wizards, I wouldn’t be surprised if he willingly joined magical Hitler.”

 

          “I am not going to ask who Hitler is. Probably some muggle idiot,” Malfoy huffed, “and you shouldn’t be so casual about making fun of You-Know-Who. There are others whose families still worship him, and if they hear you, they may do something nasty.”

 

          “Are _you_ going to attack me?” Hasu asked dead-pan. 

 

          “Only if you pour water in his perfect hair,” said a voice.  

 

Hasu and Malfoy turned around and saw the SAMA members. Cho, Anthony, Terry and Padma looked fully awake, but Daphne and Nott were drowsy. Nott stifled his yawn with his mouth and continued to speak, “he spends a good deal of time tending his luscious hair, isn’t that right, Malfoy? Sometimes I swear you might as well be a girl.”

 

“It’s all for looking proper!” Malfoy seethed, but everyone quietly snickered.

 

“What are we learning today?” Anthony’s eyes twinkled with excitement.

 

“We can review what we did last week. Try the elemental circles and see if you can do better.”

 

Hasu observed the students perform the simple spells and was impressed to see that the Ravenclaws actually practiced enough to succeed all four spells and showed particular affinities. Anthony produced a small patch of random wild flowers, Cho and  made palm-sized water fountains, and Padma made a fire that resembled bluebell fire spell. Nott and Greengrass seemed to be at the same stage, while Malfoy seemed to struggle a little. It wasn’t surprise for Hasu because he knew that none of the three Slytherins practiced.

 

“These spells are very foundations of other advanced elemental spells, “ Hasu drew two concentric circle and inscribed a chinese word for _Flame_. “You have to understand the basic elements to control stronger spells. Once you master them, you can use elemental spells without making circles all the time.”

 

“Does it have to be drawn on the ground?” Padma asked.

 

“It’s easy to draw them on hard surface, but you can do it on the air. Like this.”

 

Hasu manifested a dimly glowing circle hovering over his right hand, and from the circles came out small water balloons. The balloons floated in the air like bubbles, reflecting moonlight that came through the windows.

 

“That’s wicked! How are you so good?” Anthony gasped.

 

“That’s just how we do it.”

 

“I feel a little privileged that we are keeping this to ourselves,” Cho giggled.

 

“But can you use magic outside the school?” Nott asked.

 

“Yes,” Hasu nodded, “but we have very strict security measures. We have cameras and multiple barriers that detect all kinds of magic, so it’s really hard to get away with using magic to commit crimes and escape. Honestly, I was surprised that places like Diagon Alley don’t have any surveillance tools.”

 

“Then why do you use wand?”

 

“I just wanted to go along with this…culture. I don’t want too much attention on me,” Hasu shrugged. “Seriously, this wandless magic isn’t as miraculous as you think. Just think of what you want, try to make it happen on your hand, and boom. You are a wandless wizard now. I don’t understand why it is so hard or why you use the wands.”

 

“I heard some really talented wizards can do wandless magic, but it takes a long time,” said Anthony.

 

“It’s like you attach yourself an extra arm that you rely on it entirely. If you don’t have that arm from the start, it wouldn’t be difficult at all.” Hasu twirled his wand in his hand.

 

“Why don’t you teach us Chinese and Ainu letters first, _then_ practice the elemental circles?” Padma asked, fascinated.

 

“Because that’s counterproductive,” Hasu shook his head. “My English teacher taught us that no language can be perfectly translated into another because language is not just for communication but a part of culture. A lot of times, even simple sentences need some adjustments so that the foreigners can understand them with a right context. Look at these sentences for example.”

 

Hasu whipped his wand like a chalk in the air and wrote _I ate a dinner with my lover._

“Let’s say Malfoy wants to translate this to Japanese. Know that Chinese characters are very common in Japanese language, and he knows that the word _ai_ means love in both Japanese and Chinese, and the word _jin_ means a person. So, if he said _aijin,_ it should mean lover, right?”

 

“It doesn’t?” Malfoy raised his eyebrows.

 

“No, _aijin_ means, in Japanese…” Hasu grinned and stalled for a dramatic effect, “…someone you cheat on with.”

 

A short silence preceded before explosive laughter. Padma and Anthony clutched their stomachs and rolled on the floor, and Greengrass and Cho stifled their laughter. Malfoy and Nott, on the other hands, looked somewhat horrified.

 

“I also want to add, that the same word in China means a _married one_ ,” Cho managed to speak clearly after wiping her tears. “Hasu is right. Even the words with the same origins can have very different meanings in different cultures.”

 

“Oh, I didn’t know that one,” said Hasu with a genuine interest.

_Grrrrgghh._

 

A low, guttural sound broke the somewhat inappropriately entertaining mood and froze the children. “What was that?” Padma whispered. She looked at the locked door that was facing her direction.

 

“I don’t know. It can’t be Peeves,” Hasu answered.

 

“I never heard of any ghosts making animal sounds,” said Cho nervously.

 

“Maybe there _is_ something deadly beyond the door?” Anthony wondered with a mix of morbid curiosity and fear. “Wanna go check?”

 

“Don’t be stupid, Goldstein! We are not Gryffindors!” Malfoy chastised.

 

“I kind of want to see what’s inside.  Does that door lead to anywhere?”

 

“Hogwarts has many hidden passages, so who knows?” Padma shrugged, “but I don’t want to risk my life.”

 

“I know some tricks,” Hasu grinned and walked to the door.

 

“Katakura!” Malfoy worriedly whispered, but Hasu ignored him. He blinded his right eye with his right arm and focused his left eye on the door while stretching his left forward.

 

“ _Nozoki- me(peeping eye).”_

The left eye’s vision wobbled like a heat haze. Hasu squinted harder to see what resided over the door and focused his attention on his left eye. The vision stopped distorting and showed the space behind the door like a circular night-vision. Hasu gasped at what he saw.

 

“ _Nanda gore wa(what is this)?”_

“What did he say?” Anthony frowned at the foreign words.

 

“What do you call a giant dog with three heads?” Hasu asked without moving.

 

“Cerberus?” Cho blinked in a confusion, then paled. “No way.”

 

“Yes,” Hasu took one step closer to the door, “and it’s standing on some door…uh…I don’t know the name in English.”

 

“Trapdoor,” said Padma. “I guess it does lead to something, like Cho said.”

 

“Myth says that Cerberus is meant to guard a gate to the underworld,” Nott said nervously.

 

“Since when was Hogwarts a secret passage to the underworld?” Hasu scoffed, “maybe it’s guarding something. Like, a secret school fund!”

 

“Katakura, that makes no sense when you can stash your money in Gringotts,” Greengrass shook her head. “Gringotts is the safest place in the earth-“

 

“-never heard of it in Honshu.“

 

“-at least Europe! Goblins have incredibly powerful anti-theft systems in their vaults, which is why all the purebloods have stored their wealth there for generations! It’s impenetra…uh...”

 

“It _was_ broken into last July,” Malfoy refuted Greengrass’s statement, “somebody somehow broke into a vault deep in the bank, but it was empty. _Daily Prophet_ said that whatever was inside had been taken out earlier on the same day. Remember Katakura, the day we met each other in the store?”

 

“Oh, that’s when it happened?” Hasu removed his right hand from his right eye. The penetrating vision dissolved, and his left eye now could only see the door. He slowly took step back, then turned around and returned to his group. “Well, if that’s the case, the dog is definitely guarding something that had been in the Gringotts. Sounds even more like a secret fund that Dumbledore wants to hide from the ministry!” 

 

“I really don’t think Dumbledore would hide _money_ in there. It’s not like his character,” Greengrass found the claim ridiculous and disagreed.

 

“You never know what politicians do behind the curtains,” Hasu blew his cheek left and right and contemplated. He didn’t know it, but he was quite elated to find a blackmail material against Dumbledore.

 

Over the course of two weeks, he found so many archaic aspects of british wizards so absurd and laughable. Aside the blood purity and wand nonsense, he just found people too _romantic_.  They seemed to believe too much in heroes, big bad dark wizards, chivalries and mystics of magic as it was. He asked about Harry Potter around, and almost everyone seemed to believe that he was a wizard version of Jesus Christ who miraculously saved all from Voldemort and his goons’ terrors. When he asked how Dumbledore, who gave him the weird nickname of _Boy who Sacrificed,_ would know the circumstance and how they could take his words at face value, he received offended expressions or weird looks as if his head had been hit by couple bricks for even asking such question. He did remember that Dumbledore played a huge role defeating two terrorists in his life - which was _extremely_ laudable no matter what - but history showed that war heroes often made bad leaders. Dumbledore was brilliant on his own, no doubt, but it was disconcerting to see a disproportionate amount of people praised him as infallible.    

 

But now, he had a great blackmail material against the old man in case he tried to mess with Hasu. Nobody would appreciate a lethal, three-headed dog hidden in a school building, and parents would probably call for Dumbledore’s resignation.

 

At least, that’s what would happen in Honshu.

 

“Should we tell the ministry?” Anthony carefully suggested.

 

“No,” Hasu opposed, “this isn’t our business.”

 

“But no one in the right mind would put a Cerberus in a school!” Cho shouted in a whispery voice.

 

“Well…” Hasu’s brain worked vigorously to find an excuse, “I am sure that headmaster has his own reasons. Sure, he may not be the moral paragon like people believe, but do you think he would really endanger us like this? Whatever he hid in there, if it’s about the thief who had tried to steal it, it must be something that we shouldn’t know.”

 

“You sound like a Granger all of sudden,” Nott looked at Hasu suspiciously.

 

“Look,” Hasu sighed dramatically, “I am just as curious as you all about what’s under the trapdoor, but I don’t want to snoop around unless it’s absolutely necessary. Why would someone who defeated two terrorists in his life try to harm us _now?_ ” Hasu argued, hopefully it would convince others to not butt in. Malfoy muttered something, but Hasu ignored.

 

“You aren’t wrong,” Cho nodded. Anthony and Padma also seemed to believe Hasu. Hasu continued, happy that people listened to him.

 

“Look, all we have to do is to _not_ be around here anymore and pretend that we don’t know anything. Somebody in this school, hopefully, is going to keep this room safe. Obviously, the students beliebe Dumbledore like a holy bible, so nobody would dare come here.”

 

“And if we do rat on him, Dumbledore would probably try to remove it even before the ministry comes to investigate it. He is brilliant, whether he is crazy or not,” said Greengrass.  

 

“Good thinking, Katakura. So many people lick Dumbledore’s boots. I guess it’s for their own good,” Malfoy was impressed by Hasu’s logic. Nott still seemed doubtful of Hasu’s words.

 

“Let’s hope that this dog goes away within a year,” Hasu stretched his arms. He wanted this blackmail material for himself and was glad that others except Nott was convinced. The dirty blond boy was clearly not as easy to deceive, so Hasu had to watch out. Malfoy would probably try to use this for his own good as well, meaning Hasu would have to either drag him closer to his side, or find another blackmail material from him. It didn’t exactly feel good to do this, but he wasn’t exactly ashamed either. His mother did this sort of thing all the time for the better, after all. It sucked that he had to find a new meeting place, though.

 

“Then where we are going to meet next time?” Anthony asked, moaning.

 

“We will figure it out,” said Hasu absentmindely, lost in thought.  


	12. Can't update anymore...

Hi guys, I know this is absolutely shitty of me, but for last three years, my load of academic works have been only increasing....and because of that, I haven't been able to put more thoughts and efforts into my work. I had ambitious goal to create a whole new world, but my real life responsibilities have become too much for me to hone my writing skills, and honestly, it's become more of a chore than an enjoyable hobby. I am so sorry for dragging this work for last three years only to stop in the middle, and I know that my indecisiveness made the readers leave and/or get tired :(. I sincerely apologize. I am not sure if I will ever be able to finish it, much less make progresses. So, thanks for sticking around for this subpar work, and Good Bye. With sincere apology, LoveThyFrenemies.

**Author's Note:**

> Those who waited so long (if you are still waiting for me), I am finally back!  
> I am currently seeking a beta - reader who can look at my grammar and plot lines. If you would like to help me, please comment under the chapter. I have some minor linguistic disorder that makes it quite hard to write scenes(which was why it took so long), so any help would be very helpful.


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